25 Things We've Learned in 25 Years of Marriage

Today is our 25th wedding anniversary. It's funny, because only old people are celebrating their silver anniversary and we are still young kids just learning how to adult. At least that's what it feels like! We married young {I was 19, he was 20} and we immediately started our family {ahem...I was 26 weeks pregnant when we walked down the aisle}. We were the first of our friends to get married and we've seen our fair share of couple friends get divorced. We've had a lot of good years and some bad years in there, but overall, I think at 25 years we have a few things we've learned that we can share to those coming up behind.

0

Brie Cheese Cake Tower

My oldest son recently got married in a very private intimate elopement ceremony. There were just seven of us in attendance, and one of them was the photographer! They celebrated the next day with a reception, complete with a beautiful traditional wedding cake, but for the elopement ceremony, the bride requested a Brie cake tower. I had never seen anything like it before, but I loved the idea and I'm sharing with you how I quickly and easily put together this showstopper. A Brie cake tower is fancy enough for a wedding, and fun enough for any celebration. Imagine taking your charcuterie board to the next level with a beautiful Brie cake tower!

0

DIY Mimosa Bar Cart with Free Printable Mimosa Bar Sign

This past summer, I had the honor of throwing a wedding shower for my son and his soon-to-be wife. I had a lot of different ideas for things to do, but having a mimosa bar was high on the list. I started scouring Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp for bar carts and kept turning up empty. There was one HUGE mimosa bar cart I could rent for the low low price of $500, and I think that's when I decided I wanted to DIY my own. I'm showing you how you can take an old worn-out service cart and turn it into a fun party piece for your next event!

0

Where to Shop for Mother of the Bride or Groom Dresses

My oldest son just got married. I'm no fashion blogger, but the question keeps coming up on where the best place is to shop for a mother of the bride or mother of the groom dress is. I had about a year to find the perfect dress for the occasion, and I'll tell you, I had my eyeballs peeled at a lot of different places from department store, to thrift shop to clothing rental. Finding the perfect dress for such a special day can be tricky, so I'm going to share my experience with you on where to shop for the perfect mother of the bride or groom dress.

0

DIY Personalized Wedding Gift Tray

The invitations have already started arriving in my mailbox for this summer. It's wedding season! I love creating fun easy personalized gifts for the bride and groom. The trick is to make something they are going to actually use too, not just something that will take up space. When I saw this blank tray at my local Goodwill, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it! Come see how I took this boring tray and created a fun personalized wedding gift that the couple is sure to enjoy.

0

The Secret to Sticking Vinyl on A Canvas

It's no secret that I love my Silhouette machine. It's fun to see the different projects that I can create but I must confess, I'm falling on a steeper learning curve when I use my machine than I probably should. I'm glad I have friends like Melissa at Silhouette School to help bail me out {where was she when I was making these invitations that ended up costing me $115 EACH!}, but sometimes I need to come up with my own solutions. Several years ago, I had a friend ask me to make some canvases for an event. I told her I would but then when it came time to adhere the vinyl to the canvas, I couldn't for the life of me get it to stick. I spent far more hours on it than I should have only to come to the conclusion that it couldn't be done. BUT IT CAN! Why did it take me years to figure it out??? Friends, if you are like me and need a solution to help your vinyl to stick a canvas, I found one. Read on. It will save you!

12

10 Wedding Gifts Couples Really Use

My husband and I just celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. I remember wandering the aisles of a few department stores, having never lived on my own, trying to think of household items we might need. We were in college, so we were having to take into consideration that the majority of our guests were poor college students. We were very practical for the most part {not registering for expensive china or entertaining pieces but sticking to things we thought we would use daily}, and while perusing the wedding registry of a few young 20 somethings recently, I was wondering what gifts would be practical gifts couples really use. You know, the kind of gifts that a couple might not have on their registry, but instead realize after they unwrapped it that this was the best gift they got. So I did what any adult does and I took to Facebook to ask my friends. Many of them have been married for decades and most remembered their favorite gifts from their wedding. I thought I would put the list together for you to use just in case you print off a registry for a wedding and start shaking your head thinking that those young whippersnappers have no clue! It may just give you a good starting point to reference if you are registering for wedding gifts for your upcoming wedding or give you ideas if you are looking for a much-appreciated gift for a young couple.

5

Pinterest wedding do over-the cake, the wedding party and my final thoughts

It's been a fun week sharing with you my collection of Pinterest wedding do overs.

Today, I am going to share with you my final thoughts, the cake and some wedding party details.

My dad's secretary took a cake making class and offered to make our wedding cake for us. We made a major mistake of positioning the wedding cake under a skylight during the reception. A few hours after sitting under the skylight, the three-tiered cake started leaning! We do have some great pictures of our guests next to the cake leaning right alongside with it! So, with that story in mind, let's check out some cakes shall we?
White but a little rustic

Fancy but not over the top

I am not a big fan of cake, so these sugar cookies are a cute alternative.


Lace is big now, even for the cake

Another rustic cake I love the base

Simple but elegant

This cake is stunning!

Guess I am stuck on the white on white cakes

I like the matching cupcakes.

Now that you all want a piece of cake, let's move on to the wedding party. A bracelet would make a great bridesmaid gift they can wear not only in the wedding but after!(2023 self likes this one better than the one I put a photo of in 2013)

I had four bridesmaids in my wedding. Because we were cutting it close on time, we couldn't order bridesmaids dresses. Thankfully, prom season had just ended and I was able to find four matching silver dresses at Kohl's for $50 each.  The night before the wedding, my mom realized that the dresses were see through and she sewed lining in to each of the dresses to prevent a wardrobe malfunction.
I love the various neutrals of these dresses.  These were our actual wedding colors.

A stunning gown

This a-line empire waist dress would be flattering on so many figures.

This color is beautiful!

I love the detail on these dresses.

I love the new suit trend for the groomsmen.

The reality is, I'm probably closer to wearing a mother of the bride {or groom} dress before I will wear a wedding dress.

Spoiler alert! My oldest son got married in 2022! Here are my updated tips on how to shop for a mother of the bride/groom dress.

2013 self: This dress is quite stunning.2023 self: it's ok, but looks more like a grandma of the bride dress, so I'm passing!


I'm thinking this hair is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!

Photography makes all the difference, which is why we spent the good majority of our wedding budget on flowers and a good photographer. I remember my mom interviewing photographers while I was at school. She finally called me and told me that her standards had slowly started to lower. All she was looking for on such short notice was a photographer that didn't take nudie shots. Apparently, she found one too many porn shots lining the photographers walls! I love everything about this wedding.
2023 self: obviously I was very ahead of the game with my recommendation of farm/barn weddings. I see how this look has been done many MANY times. I wonder what the next trend will be?
I could search high and low for hours on end,  I could plan and replan every detail of my wedding day, but in the end, after 15 years of marriage, it's not the wedding that matters.
People spend months and months planning their big day, but spend very little time focusing on what really matters...the marriage.
Things may not have been exactly the way I wanted them. We may not have had a carved ice sculpture but instead had a frozen duck mold,  our reception was in the Sunday school hallway not in a lavish hotel ballroom,  but what really matters is the marriage that was created because of that one day.
Not the wedding and the details of the day. So I leave all of you with this thought. Because really, this should be the most important part of wedding planning.
Follow my wedding do over board on pinterest. I recently stumbled on a blog post by Avoiding Atrophy that sums up this past week with a little more up to date experience. You should totally go and read her part 1 and part 2  ps-the downside of pinterest is that the original sources sometimes get lost. I have done my best to link to the original source when I could.

1

garage sale finds friday-wedding edition Edition 48

Since we have been celebrating a Pinterest wedding do over this week, I thought it was fitting to have our normal garage sale finds Friday be a recap of garage sale finds that were used for a wedding.

This post originally was published September 14, 2012

This past weekend, we got to celebrate the marriage of a beautiful young couple at their outdoor county wedding.  The wedding was held at the groom's family home and the September weather could not have been more perfect for the evening!

Aren't they the most adorable couple ever?!!

I've spent the past few months helping Jessica's mom with some of the details of the wedding.

I've always thought that it's the details that make the wedding (or any event for that matter) a special event.

Many of the wedding details for Jessica and Tyler's wedding came from garage sales and many items were borrowed from friends and relatives.

I helped design some labels for the candy favor jars by using my silhouette software. I printed them off on adhesive paper that I found at a garage sale for fifty cents!  The jars were baby food jars with spray painted lids.  The spray paint was found in the clearance section at JoAnn's.

Ball jars were a huge part of the day, many of them were borrowed, most of them came from garage sales.

Some family friends made the cherry blossom centerpieces as their gift to the bride and groom.

The ball jars acted as place cards at the tables and drinking glasses for the evening.

I cut small labels on the silhouette machine and twine was wrapped around to secure each label.

I found a great website (wedding chicks) that offers many free customizable printables for weddings.

I printed up this photo booth sign for the bride and groom to use for their photo booth.

 Most of the props were from garage sales and thrift shops.

It was a lot of fun to stop for a picture with my little girl!

The weather was beautiful, but not all that clear.

On a clear day this is an amazing view of Mt. Rainier.

It's sort of like David Copperfield...now you see it, now you don't!

This is the alter where Jessica and Tyler got married.

I was able to score the white bench for free at a garage sale, and they borrowed the various crates and lanterns from my house.  

Jessica made a beautiful bride in her custom gown, made for her by a friend in design school.

After the wedding, frames from garage sales made the perfect prop for wedding photos in the grassy field.

One of Jessica's friends went to culinary school and made the beautiful cupcakes for the reception.

The glassware and cupcake stand were mine from home, bought from garage sales.

I NEVER pass up clear or white serving wear at garage sales.

You never know when you need them, and they are always great to have on hand.

The flowers were purchased the morning of the wedding from the local farmers market.

What a great way to save some money and support a local farmer.

Isn't this window frame with chalkboard art great?

And candles floated in more garage sale glassware.

Jessica and her mom scored this cute table at a garage sale earlier in the summer, and the coke crates and vintage fan came from my house all garage sale finds.

Jessica and Tyler had a guest book table set up.

The thumbprint tree was made by the bride.

Guests were encouraged to put their thumb print in ink and add a leaf to the tree.

I'm pretty sure it's a good sign when there is a rainbow at your wedding.

As we were leaving the reception, this is the view we had from the road.

The white lights were all found at garage sales and lit up the night.

Such a beautiful sunset on a beautiful evening.

The groom's younger brother (as in, he's still in college) has a real talent for photography.

Here are a few of the pictures he took of the evening.

Congratulations Jessica and Tyler! Thanks for letting us share your special day with you!

1