For this beautiful citrus bridal brunch, a group of vendor pals got together to plan the perfect fresh and modern party—and take a turn in front of the cameras! A palette of light aqua mixed with lemon, lime and orange gave this party an almost tropical vibe, while beautiful greenery was the perfect contrast to the bright summery shades. The menu included lemon tarts, mini blackberry pancake stacks and a warm spinach and cheese quiche. The team took the time to tie the theme throughout the entire apartment, framing coordinating wall art, styling a bar cart and creating linens to match the color palette. Each guest took away a coordinating custom pouch.
The first week in August, I traveled to North Carolina for my friend Jae’s wedding. Jae got engaged in April and pulled off an amazing wedding in only four months (and on a budget too)! Now, she has specifically asked me to clarify that a four-month engagement does not mean the bride is pregnant!! Since both she and her now-husband Jason are teachers, she really wanted to get married during summer vacation when she would have a lot of time to devote to planning and could just enjoy the event. And waiting over a year just didn’t seem right for her. Planning a wedding in four months seemed impossible to me, but Jae absolutely made it look easy. I was blown away with how easily she pulled everything together. But I shouldn’t have been—Jae is like the most organized, proactive person in the universe. Her wedding was beautiful and everything came together perfectly.
But Jae’s short engagement did mean that we didn’t have time to dedicate a full weekend to bachelorette festivities…so we decided to pack everything into her wedding weekend! That meant a bachelorette on Saturday, a bridal shower on Sunday, and the wedding on Monday! (One of Jae’s pro tips for getting married on a budget: Have a Monday or Friday wedding!) At first I was nervous about trying to do so much in one weekend. Honestly, I was worried that I would be totally burned out by the wedding reception. But it turned out to be fantastic! I think the key was that each of our events had a very different energy: we had relaxing spa time, a high-energy bachelorette night, a classy tea party. All of the events were so different and I thought we had the perfect balance of relaxing, socializing and fun!
I started the weekend with a plane delay that made me about an hour late for our bachelorette spa day. I have to give credit to the amazing team at Balance Day Spa in Greensboro. I had basically missed my massage time slot, but they were able to move some of their appointments around to make sure I got a 30-minute massage. And after a rough morning of air travel, I SO needed it! The spa is lovely and relaxing, with a peaceful lounge area in the women’s locker room where we set up a mimosa bar and other refreshments. After our massages and manicures, Jae surprised us with thoughtful bridesmaid gift bags. Each bag included a monogrammed silk robe to wear on the morning of the wedding, monogrammed clutches and (my favorite) a personalized framed memento of our friendship, in which she shared some of her favorite memories with each of us. The gifts were so thoughtful—there were definitely a few tears shed!
Afterward, we headed to dinner in downtown Greensboro at Liberty Oak, then back to the hotel for a bachelorette slumber party. Jae wanted a low-key night with her girlfriends with lots of laughing. We tried to incorporate a lot of Jae’s favorite things into the weekend—for instance, Harry Potter and FRIENDS. For her bachelorette favors, I found these awesome House Bride Harry Potter themed tank tops. Not only did they look great, they were also super comfortable—and the seller even rushed the order to get them to me on time. They were perfect. We started up a marathon of FRIENDS wedding episodes (half of the wedding party can quote FRIENDS on command) and played a few bachelorette games, including the fiance quiz, a bridal mad lib and a wedding version of 5 Second Rule (stay tuned for more on that).
The next morning, we hosted a tea party shower in the lobby of the O.Henry Hotel, which was also the venue for Jae’s wedding and where we were all staying. I cannot compliment this hotel enough. The service was superb. The night before, I must have called the front desk 10 times for different things—could we have a DVD player brought up, could we have a wine opener, oh no one of us is locked out of our room, oh no we can’t figure out how to make the DVD player work! Seriously, if I had any problem, I just called the front desk…and they fixed it for me. They were so generous, thoughtful and helpful. They really made our stay perfect.
For the shower, we served an afternoon tea for Jae’s friends and relatives, and played a “how well do you know the bride” game. Each guest left with a sprinkle party favor with a handmade tag you can download here. We also asked all the guests to bring Jae a recipe on a personalized recipe card and it was so fun to see the different recipes she got. They completely matched the personalities and tastes of the senders, from quinoa salad to ice cream bar cake. (My own contribution was a spice blend I use on everything…and yes, it’s Whole30.)
Finally, I’ll share a little peek of us getting ready on wedding day in our monogrammed robes!!
After a surprise email from a local seamstress, Shaunda of E’MAGINE Weddings & Events was inspired to collaborate with her to create completely custom bridesmaid robes and dresses. Seamstress Stini and wedding planner Shaunda carried the theme of personalization through the decor and accessories, incorporating wine glass decals to customize the beverages, monogramming on the robes and each bridesmaid’s name stitched into clutches. As a serial bridesmaid (eight times and counting!), Shaunda wanted to create a luxurious inspiration shoot for a bridesmaid luncheon, the perfect way to thank your ladies for being there for you through all the craziness of wedding planning. Charlotte wedding photographer Samantha Laffoon perfectly captured all the little details of the day.
Everyone should have a best friend in the wedding business. It always seems to result in beautiful bridal showers, like the pink and gold tea party Rachel of Blue Barn Photography threw in Raleigh, North Carolina, for her best friend Aly. The inspiration for the theme came from Aly’s love of vintage teapots, so Rachel borrowed delicate, colorful vintage china from her own mother and mother-in-law as well as Aly’s mom to create a cleverly mismatched set. Rachel found the fringed photobooth backdrop project on Pinterest and the other bridesmaids jumped in to assemble it the day of the shower. While the pink sodas and rosy teacups kept the theme undeniably girly, pops of gold and white throughout gave this tea party a chic moden spin. Venue: Pullen House
