My Bridal Shower

As many of you know, Steve’s and my wedding was here in Tennessee, which means that almost our entire guest list either had to fly or drive really far to get here.  That being said, I knew I wanted everyone to be able to participate in my bridal shower as well, so I had Elizabeth plan it for the Thursday evening before the wedding so that most people coming from out of town would already be here.  It worked out wonderfully.  Almost everyone (except a few people who were coming in late Thursday night or Friday) was able to attend.

We had a wonderful turnout, and I think between 20-25 ladies showered me with love.

Luckily we had enough chairs for everyone to sit down.  That was one of our main concerns….but we were able to bring in some chairs from our kitchen table and place them against the walls and such to make more seating.

My mom gave a wonderful devotional about being a great wife and loving and respecting your husband.

Love my mom!

Then it was time for presents!!  (Side note:  See that “s M j” on the mantle?  I painted that for the wedding and then forgot to set it out on one of the display tables.  Oh well, it still looks cute in my house)

Yay!  My cupcake carrier!!  Now I have more of an excuse to make delicious cupcakes because I’ll have a method of transportation to bring them to other peoples houses so they don’t end up in my belly!

I got many other wonderful gifts, like this beautiful wedding photo album.  But I won’t bore you with all the present opening pictures.  It might  get kinda redundant.

My friend (and former next door neighbor) Connie came with her bouncing baby girl, Camryn.

What a beautiful baby girl!  And look at those deep blue eyes!!

Well you can forget what I said about the present opening pictures.  I just remembered that my good camera battery died half way through, and my friend and bridesmaid, Tiffany, got my other point and shoot camera and finished taking pictures.  So I guess you’ll just have to deal with more present pictures! 🙂  Connie made this beautiful card for me.  It has cut outs of our wedding invitation and the picture we sent with our invitations.  Very creative!

I just like this picture because I look really tan. 🙂  Those days at the tanning salon really paid off!  No bride wants to blend into her wedding dress, and I most definitely would if I didn’t have a little help from some artificial sun.  Yes, I faked and baked and I’m not ashamed!!!

And this is the face I made when I opened Elizabeth’s gift.  A camera bag!!!  Up until this point, every time I wanted to take my camera somewhere I’ve had to just carry it in my hands or try not to ruin it by carrying it in my purse.  This was a much needed and appreciated gift.

And to top it all off, she had it embroidered with my Southern Daisy logo.  Amazing!

What’s a bridal shower without some kitchen towels and oven mits?!

Steve’s mom, Toli, gave us some cute kitchen towels and oven mits with puppy dogs on them.

This is when I realized that this gift from Cheryl McAdams wasn’t just a pretty picture frame, but that it was pictures of buildings and architecture that actually spelled out my new last name, McVey!!  What an amazing and unique gift!  It is now hanging above our pantry.

Elizabeth was there to help me write down all my gifts so that I wouldn’t forget a single thank you card.

It was a wonderful shower, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.  Elizabeth did a great job planning it, and my mom was wonderful in helping her out and making some of the food.  Oh man, I just realized that we didn’t get any pictures of Elizabeth’s beautiful cake that she made, but just know that it was a gorgeous strawberry cake with white sides and a beautiful pink flowered top.  And we can’t forget that delicious punch!

 

Lingerie Party (Sorry guys)

Well, it’s finally the end of two very busy weeks.  The stress joy of the wedding is over, all of our out of town guests have gone home, and now Steve and I can just look forward to our honeymoon on Tuesday.  We thoroughly enjoyed having all our family and friends come all the way to Tennessee for our wedding, and especially having my parents stay with us for an extra 5 days, but it is kinda nice having our house to ourselves again, and letting everything fall back to it’s normal pace.

So I’m going to start this series of wedding blog posts with my lingerie party.  My wonderful best friend and matron of honor, Elizabeth, planned two amazing showers for me (lingerie and bridal) with wonderful food, friends & family, decorations, and (of course) dessert!

Here is the beautiful table setting I saw as I walked in the door to my lingerie party.

Look at these awesome cookies!!!!  Some are bras with necklaces and others are undies!!! (Again, sorry guys.)

She also had some beautiful mini cupcakes with pink roses on top.

Yummy chocolate covered strawberries….I had a few of these.  Well, actually I had a few of everything.

And these awesome “bra” cupcakes.  I didn’t see it at first, but if you look at 2 cupcakes together they look like a bra!  You’ll see it better in a later photo.

Our friend Jen made this incredible chicken fettuccine bow-tie pasta with sun-dried tomatoes.  I die!  I had 3 helpings of this, I think.

And who can forget the delicious sherbet punch!!!  Mmmmm.  My mouth is watering right now for this stuff!

Alright, Elizabeth, you convinced me.  I’ll have a mimosa too. 🙂

After eating (and drinking) all those delicious treats, we played bridal themed Pictionary. (That looks weird….is that spelled correctly?)

Jenni was the best one at Pictionary  because she is a teacher and is used to writing or drawing on large marker boards.

We had a fun time guessing all the drawings.  And when we ran out of the papers that tell you what to draw, we started making up our own things.

Then it was time for presents!!  (Guys may want to stop reading at this point.)

New lingerie is always super fun!  Actually, new anything is always super fun.  Unless it’s a new mosquito bite, or a new speeding ticket, or a new drool spot on your wall (I get that last one a lot).

And I got some CUTE stuff!

Elizabeth gave me some very risque lingerie…..so be glad that this picture is small enough to where you can’t really see the pictures on the front of those boxes.  Awkward!

Here’s a better view of those “bra” cupcakes.  What a cute idea!  Thank you, Elizabeth, for such a wonderful lingerie party!  Steve I really appreciates it!

 

Franklin Wedding: The Reception

So I’ve done posts on getting ready, pre-ceremony photos, the ceremony, and now I’m going to conclude this 4 post series with the RECEPTION PHOTOS!!!!!

Here’s Rustin, waiting for the marriage license to be signed.  You can see the minister signing it in the background.

For some reason, I didn’t have to sign the marriage license as a witness.  Only Eli, the best man signed it.  That was a little disappointing. 🙁

Elizabeth, Steve, and I are looking at the guest book.  They had cute pictures in there from throughout their relationship.  They even had a screen shot of Rustin’s text message, asking Elizabeth to marry him.  That’s right…….a text message!

Yay!  They’re officially married!!!

Ok, is this not the funniest cake topper you’ve ever seen??  Hilarious!

Beautiful bridesmaids…..if I do say so myself.  🙂

Krista and Steve (one of the many).  Such a cute couple!

Here are some attempts at our jumping picture.

Traditional wedding photo.

The groomsmen with the bride.  Look at my little cutie there in the front!

Bridesmaids with the groom.

Steve and me with our best friends, Elizabeth and Rustin!  Just you wait, in a few years we’re going to have another picture together with the addition of a bunch of little kids.  🙂

Capturing a private moment.

Love this photo!

My pretty gerbera daisy bouquet.  My favorite flowers!  Oh, and my pink sandals that Elizabeth gave to all the bridesmaids to wear at the reception.

Time for the first dance as husband and wife.

Time to cut the cake!

That cake topper was really stuck on there!

Well, in case you can’t tell….and because my “camera man” didn’t get a picture quick enough….instead of feeding each other the cake, Rustin and Elizabeth so graciously decided to smash the cake in mine and the best man’s faces.  Sooooooooo thoughtful!!!  And look, they think they’re SO funny!  Well just you wait little missy.  You’re in my wedding in less than a month!

But I was a good sport about it.  Even though Rustin completely chucked the cake at me like he was throwing a fast ball!

We’re still friends! 🙂

Thanks for the help, guys!

I had some trouble getting it out of my eyelashes, so Jen helped me.

All better!

Bouquet time!!  I only had a month and a half left where I can participate in this!

She had to do it twice because both times, she threw it WAY to far!  Sarah (in the purple) ended up catching it.

Garter time!  Oh Elizabeth, so naughty!

Rob, Sarah’s boyfriend ended up catching the garter.  How perfect!

Here’s a close up of my hairdo.  🙂

And, all of a sudden it’s dark!  There was about a 2 hour span where I didn’t have my camera with me for some reason.  Oh I know, it was because I was dancing!!  And the ring bearer wouldn’t let me stop dancing, or dance with anyone but him.  I was his prisoner!!

Somehow, all the guys ended up in the pool at the end of the night…..in their tuxes!!!

Even the ring bearer jumped in!

Here is my Steve’s graceful entrance into the pool!

Yah!  We’re so cool!!

Oh honey, you’re still a little kid at heart!  The girls ended up jumping in a little later….but not in our dresses, of course.  Wendie (Rustin’s mom) provided us with some bathing suits. 🙂  It was a very fun night!  A night that I hope we will never forget!