Giving Thanks

I know it's not exactly Thanksgiving yet but I knew I had to blog now because I will be stuffing my face tomorrow.

Honestly, I am really thankful, for so many things. Actually, I am so thankful that when I started writing this post my list kinda went on, and on, and on!!

So here is my cornucopia of thankfulness.......

• My Husband: I love him more this year than I did last and am grateful for the things I have learned in year 2, like.... when he snores I just need to give him a light kick to make him stop.
• My Sisters: My three best friends that share my DNA. Sure, with that many sisters there is some drama but you can guarantee one of them always has some cute clothes I can borrow when my closet is empty!
• My Brother: Honestly, his jokes used to be extremely lame when we were younger but now he is so funny I swear if he tried out for SNL they would put him in every skit. He is so amazing and I am so proud of everything he has made of himself.
• My Mom: The definition of strong and loving, I love her so very very much. Even when she tells me about how ALL her friends are grandmothers and I have to promise her that "yes, mom I promise someday you will be a grandma too."
• My Dad: Honestly, the older I get the more I just love my dad. He is always happy, always excited to see us, always wants to hang out. It's true, I have a "cool" dad.
• My Grandma Sue: I have a beautiful pillow that sits on my big office chair made by her and it constantly reminds me that I have someone that believes in my dreams and loves me so much.
• My Dogs: Every morning I wake up I am a mommy sandwich, a dog on my left and a dog on my right. These little monsters teach me how everyday is filled with so much happiness no matter what is to come.
• My Friends: Where do I start?? I am seriously so blessed to be surrounded by the most intelligent, strong, hard working and loving women. Seriously, I have a super hero team of friends who without I would be VERY lost.
• My Company: It's been almost a year that my company was first pushed into the bridal world. What a year it has been. It's A LOT of hard work and faith but it is SO worth it! I'm addicted to all of you brides!
• God: For answering some prayers and not answering others. For proving that my faith is right on, and when in doubt he reminds me that there is always a bigger plan, a bigger reason for the "right now".

Lastly, I need to thank YOU. Thank you for dropping by and reading my posts, for taking in these little glimpses of me. *appreciation*

I hope that your Thanksgiving is filled with love and joy. Whether you are spending the day with a whole big family or taking time to remember what you are thankful for I hope it is everything you wanted it to be. *smile*

{Sending My Blog Readers Love!}

Uptown Girl

I am married. I love being married. But there is one down side, I never get to actually be a bride again. Sooo, when the owners of Uptown Bridal asked me to model in their new ad campaign I, of course, said yes! It gave me a chance to pretend I WAS a bride. *smile*

The totally talented Justine Miller was working her camera magic as I was dressed in a playful dress and then on to a more modern frilly look.

Here are some pictures from the day! More to come so stay tuned. :)

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Gone Country:: The After-After CMA Party

September 1st, 2010 it was official. The Country Music Association had confirmed that Lady Antebellum was as good as we all knew they were.

On that VERY same day, that first day of September, my beautiful friend Cassie asked me if I could use my party planning skills to help throw a celebration. A VERY special celebration for her and her husband, Mr. Charles Kelley and his band's 5 CMA nominations {two of which they won!}. Of course I said yes. I knew how hard they have worked to get where they are and they deserved to celebrate this very special event the way they wanted to: by throwing a party.

{Lady A on the red carpet before the awards}

Last week I flew out to Nashville to help be a part of one of the best nights of the year: The Country Music Awards. We turned Cassie & Charles' home into a swanky lounge. Whites and metallics, flowers and soft blankets made for a perfect after-party setting.

{Charles & Cassie during the show. I told you she was beautiful, seriously stunning.

And Charles, you are not too bad lookin yourself!}

After the award show and after the record label post parties 50 of the Kelley's closest friends, family, and of course country music colleagues came to eat, relax, and enjoy their After-After CMA Party.

When you live a very public lifestyle you want some things to remain private. So the majority of these pictures were taken the morning after the party, when no guests were around and a lot of the details were already put away.

{Foe white fur blankets were wrapped in ribbon and placed on couches, chairs and lounge furniture creating a very romantic and cosy atmosphere}

{Large white couches were brought in to make the backyard more of an outdoor living room}

{Candles surrounded the pool, placed on each and every table, and hung in trees}

{The AMAZINGLY talented Lindsay from The Iron Door in Nashville used her design expertise and amazing pieces to bring the event design together.

Antique chairs were used for the outdoor lounge.}

{*K for Kelley* By using elements that the Kelley's already had in their home

Lindsay was able to add little touches to the perfectly placed chairs}

{Over sized metal urns filled with ice and flowers held bottles of wine and champagne.

Making it easy for guests to grab a drink if they didn't want to walk to the bar.}

{Simple and stylish small silver cups engraved with Lady Antebellum achievements

were used all over the house as flower containers.}

{Charles' guitar was left out as a finishing touch to the living room}

{Grey & White couches & all white chairs were positioned in the living to create a lounge atmosphere. The blankets were a hit, as you can see from the picture}

{A antique all white chandelier from The Iron Gate was installed in a small room as the centerpiece in what became called The Cupcake Room.}

{Cupcakes infused with Key Lime and Chambord from

Crumb de la Crumb were truly AMAZING!}

{Antique silver trays were used by servers to pass food as well as a display to

show the varity of cupcakes}

{The Cupcake Room the night of the party. It just looked better at night, so I had to share}

{LOVE this picture & this girl! Cassie & I during the party.}

The things I love about Cassie & Charles is their love for life, their love for each other, and how down to earth and amazing they are. If anyone deserves these special moments it's them!

C&C~ Thank you for letting me be a part of your night. You mean so much to me and I can't wait to see ALL of the amazing things to come! Here's to the CMA's 2011 {Oh, and the Grammys too}!!!!

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Creative Minds:: Ashley Gain Brides

Want to know what I love the most about weddings? It's not the flowers, the cake, or who designed the wedding dress, it's the bride and groom.

I love the two people who fell in love and want to start their lives together. I love hearing stories about how they got engaged, when they want to start a family and why they are getting married.

It's their personal fairy tale that makes me love what I do.

An Ashley Gain Weddings couple Angela & Peter were married on October 23, 2010 at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

The overall theme romantic vintage pulled through each and every detail of their day. While their talented photographer Miss. Diana Rothery completes the editing of their stunning day, Angela & I decided it would be fun to give you a glimpse into one of the MANY creative details of their wedding.

Angela's wedding invitations were some of my favorite! Below she shares with us her "how to" on creating the darling *anthropologie* inspired invites.

{Angela individually wrapped each invite in brown kraft paper.

She was sweet enough to send her planner *ME* one!!}

After trying multiple envelopes (and realizing all of them were either too snug or grossly oversized), I decided to make our own using kraft paper and scrapbooking memory glue. It was easy enough to come up with the template. Just be sure to check a sample by your local Post Office to make sure it is deliverable.

{Angela picked beautiful upholstery fabric that matched her *honey* colors and details that were weaved throughout the wedding from the table linens to the favors}

Your wedding day begins with the invitation. For your invitees who are unable to attend your wedding, the invitation is often the only piece that they will get to experience. I wanted to send out a very personal invitation and, thankfully, have a very willing family to help achieve this. My mother and mother-in-law spent two days helping me cut out, line up, iron, and sew the fabric envelopes.

{I am obsessed with this little grizzly bear!! How adorable and whimsical is this design?}

I stumbled upon A Printable Press and was instantly enchanted with her whimsical designs. She helped us custom fit one of her designs to our wedding theme. To print the invitations, we chose Greener Printer since they use environmentally friendly inks and recyclable papers.

{The punched out *heart* on the insert card was a simply sweet detail that I am obsessed with. Sometimes it's the most simple details speak the loudest.}

The little brown insert card served a few purposes: it helped unify the kraft paper that wrapped the invitation and it solved the problem of whether or not to print accommodations, maps, registries, etc. If most of your guests have internet access, this is an excellent way to avoid the tackiness of including a registry list and, in general, how to fit endless amounts of wedding information on a few sheets of paper.

{Angela's final invitation thoughts.....}

If you have the time and the ability, it can be very rewarding to design something unique for your invitation. The internet is full of DIY projects for EVERY budget. A well-thought out invitation demonstrates that all of your guests are valued, no matter how they happen to RSVP. Along with this, you'll have a beautiful keepsake to help remember the day for years to come.

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