Family Vacation: Award Night

Just as we did in 2013, this year we capped off the theme nights with an Award night! Last year each person was assigned another family member to give an award. This year, we decided to give teams awards and had each of the family vote using the always fabulous Survey Monkey. The survey also captured feedback on this year's planning and ideas for next year (Pirates, Slumber Party, NASCAR, and Family Olympics for our awards).

Signs for the door reminding everyone who was on what team

The awards all lined up

Table set-up

Right before we announced the winners, each member of the family was introduced and walked the red carpet to show off their outfits. 

The tennis shoes really makes it

She claimed to be an aging, bitter movie star

What an entrance!

Top hat ftw

Fabulous!

The princess arrives

After the awards were all distributed, the victors sojourned to the porch before dinner for the family shots.

The stunning matriarch

God I love this crew

After a wonderful week it was nice to celebrate and get a little goofy. Ok, we spent the whole week being goofy, but still. Such a good week that it's August and I'm still writing about it. That or I need a life. Probably both. Until next time!

Don't forget to check out Luau night, Western night, Zombie night and Medieval Times!

xo
Alison

Family Vacations: Medieval Times

One day between theme nights, we decided that we wanted to get out for dinner. With a six year old, this often represents a challenge since six year olds don't love sitting at a restaurant chit chatting for hours (a hobby in our family). Solution? Medieval Times!

Kyle and I are huge nerds and we love cheesy dinner theater. Bad food, big productions, watered down mixed drinks. Sign. me. up. 

Most of the family had never been to Medieval Times before including Zoe. It was set, we loaded up the cars, and headed off to cheer for our actor er knight. For the most part everyone got pretty into it. I mean, how can you not? Our gallant knight even threw Zo-zo a flower. Side note: she tends to get pretty distracted while eating but she was so engaged and ate every bit on her plate. Who knew the trick to kids improved appetite was Medieval play fighting?

A fun little interlude to all the themes. There is a similar show that features pirates that we will likely visit next year, in full costume no less.

Up next, Hollywood/Award night!

Don't miss Luau night, Western night, Zombie night and Award Night.

xoxo

Alison

Our Wedding: It's all in the details

I loved all the little details from our wedding, from our centerpieces, to our cocktails to my dress. I had so much fun planning and designing each thing, and it came together better than I ever could have imagined. 

Greenville Country Club

Originally we had thought our wedding colors would be navy blue and yellow, but as we were picking things out, I fell in love with the contrast orange provided to the deep blue. It also really suited our fall wedding. I knew I wanted my bridesmaids to be in a deep navy blue because it looked fantastic on each of them and they would be comfortable in it. They looked stunning. I originally thought we'd have different styles so each girl could pick a style they liked (strapless, sleeves, etc.), but all of the girls ended up liking the same dress! They were long chiffon dresses with a braided halter top. The dresses came with a long scarf that hung down the back and a rhinestone applique at the waist, but we removed both for a simpler look. I gave each of the girls jewelry from Etsy to go with their dresses. 

When we met with our florist, I had a broad idea of what I wanted, but really let her take my vision and run with it. I was so pleased with what she came up with.Our tables were covered in blue table clothes with blue napkins. Our florist created some beautiful pieces with orange lilies, dahlias, calla lilies, peach and orange roses, and green hydrangea. They were so perfect and something I certainly couldn't have come up with on my own.

Flowers by Wild Thyme

Wedding bands

I tried on several dresses before I landed on this one, but all my girls agreed it was 'the one'. I just loved the gown and I thought it fit the venue really well. The color was perfect, it was called champagne, I mean seriously. I really wanted a dress with sleeves. I'm not a strapless fan, and wasn't going to be just for my wedding. However, this dress was strapless. I worked with a dress maker in my hometown to design the look of the sleeves and keyhole back on this dress and it ended up exactly as I had envisioned. I love that this is a one of a kind dress. If you're looking for a beautiful gown that won't break the bank, try Allure. Amazing dresses.

Allure Bridal

Our ring warming ceremony was a great way to get everyone in attendance involved in the ceremony. I love that our rings carry their blessings and well wishes. You can learn more about this tradition here.

Ring Warming bag from Etsy.

Of course we incorporated Harry Potter into our wedding just a little bit! For our vows, we said 'Always' instead of 'I Do'.

Our wedding stationary was from Minted, but my mom and I created a few additional pieces on our own like our programs, guest bags, and signs. Our escort cards were set up in a frame that guests could then use for their photo booth strips and they served as our favor. Kyle's best man is a bartender (mixologist?) in New York and he developed three signature cocktails for the wedding:

• The Dapper Groom: a twist on the classic old fashioned
• The Vintage Bride: a champagne cocktail infused with grapefruit bitters
• The Spicy Thompsons: a spicy margarita

The cocktails were a HUGE hit!

Wedding Stationary from Minted

Before the wedding, I gave my parents gifts as a thank you for all their help with the wedding. For my mom I had a handkerchief made with a line from a favorite book she read me as a girl: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. I also made one for my mother-in-law, thanking her for raising the man of my dreams. 

Custom handkerchief from Etsy

For Kyle, we went with a beautiful navy blue suit from Jos A Bank with an orange tie. The boutonnieres were peach roses with smaller orange flowers. For the groomsmen, we didn't want to have to match the navy blue to the girls dresses, so we went with a light taupe suit and paisley navy blue ties. The colors worked perfectly together.

Loved the guys socks! 

Anyone who gets married has to agree that one of the best parts of wedding planning is cake tasting! I wanted something simple, different size tiers, with live flowers. I loved the design, and the fresh dahlias just popped against the blue geometric design. We had two flavors alternate by tier, Kentucky gingerbread with cream cheese butter cream and white chocolate raspberry with traditional butter cream. It was delicious and I'm already looking forward to our anniversary tier!

There were a few things that I wasn't able to get a picture of, but oh well! For cards we had a vintage birdcage with a card banner and 'Mrs. and Mr' signs on our chair both of which I designed. I still have the birdcage so we'll see what other uses I can come up with!

xo
Alison