Marrying McAfee | Let's Party!

Oh the wedding reception...one of the most fun parts of the day. After dinner, the music cranked up, and everyone hit the dance floor. We had a friend from college {DJ Hurricane Herman, what what!} DJ our reception, which allowed for a lot of personal touches and requests. He definitely played to the crowd and got a lot of people moving, which was important to us. 

We took one break from the party to do the traditional bouquet toss, or throw in our case, and the garter toss. I surprised my maid of honor Kirstie by throwing the bouquet directly at her as a surprise. It was so funny. And Christopher surprised me by having hands full of ice when he went to retrieve the garter! I was so hot that I didn't even feel it for a few seconds...it just felt wonderful and cool on my legs, but it got icy, fast. 

Both my maid and matron of honor gave heartfelt and memorable speeches. Christopher's best man Elijah was deployed on our wedding day, but he had two great men step in to fill that place. A few weeks before the wedding, I had messaged Elijah to kind of put the idea out there of a surprise speech if it was at all possible. He was able to record his thoughts and our DJ played it for everyone to hear, much to Christopher's surprise. I'm so glad we were able to do that, and include Elijah in our special day from afar.

My Phi Mu sisters also did the traditional wedding cheer, and I was so proud of myself for remembering to bring my candle from the candle-light ceremony announcing our engagement in the Phi Mu house three years prior, almost to the day! I'm so thankful we were able to get a picture with our fabulous photographer, a Phi Mu herself.

 

Throughout the reception, I could tell that our friends were getting feisty and were creating quite the getaway car. We were scheduled to leave through a tunnel of sparklers at 10:30 p.m., but about 10:15 p.m., I hit my limit. I was exhausted, hot, and just ready to be alone with my husband! So I headed back to the getting ready space, and literally laid on the couch for five minutes while the sparklers were handed out to the remaining guests. When Christopher finally made it back to the room, he asked, "How's my little introvert doing?" He knows me so well, and knew my "socializing limit" had been met!

We spent a few more minutes by ourselves with our photographer and videographer soaking in the last seconds of the day before heading out through the front door through a beautiful tunnel of sparkles. After pulling Saran wrap {and condoms...boys...!} off the car, pushing out dozens of balloons out of the seats, and stuffing my giant dress into the car, we were off! We rode back to our house to change and grab our luggage before heading to Savannah for the night. I think we both couldn't stop smiling all the way home, and kept saying how it was truly the best wedding ever.

Thank you for following along while I chronicled these memories! But no worries, the wedding features will continue, as I have the honor of featuring a few friends and blogging buddies and their wedding days. If you're interested in your wedding being featured, shoot me an email at piperellice at gmail dot com.

Also a huge thank you to all of our family and friends, near and far, who made this day the best day of our lives. We love you all!

Marrying McAfee | Getting Ready

My mom made me a clover crown, just like
she used to when I played outside when I was little

{Read about the pre-wedding events here}

 After the rehearsal dinner, the girls and I all came back to my house for one last sleepover before the wedding. They surprised me with a box full of sweet notes and letters to read right before bed, which was the sweetest thing ever. My bridesmaids didn't miss a single detail the entire time, and I am so grateful for such precious memories. 

On Saturday morning, we got up early and headed to the wedding venue, Quinney Oaks Plantation in Millen, GA. Hair started at 9 a.m. as there were a lot of heads to do! We spent the morning relaxing, setting up some of the decorations, and listening to music. For lunch, some of the moms brought us Dairy Queen box lunches which was delicious and very needed after a week of not eating much due to nerves! Plus, who doesn't want a hot fudge sundae before they get married?! 

After lunch, I started my make up and my MOH's pageant pro sister came to do everyone else's make up for them. Once we had all hair and make up done, the bridesmaids put on their gowns and were ushered out of the room while my mom and my maid and matron of honor helped me dress. I was thankful for those moments with my mom and Kirstie and Niki, two of my longest friends. It was a great quiet time to reconnect briefly before things really kicked into high gear. 

We did a special little "first look" with my ladies in our dressing room and I love looking at pictures of their priceless reactions! My mom then prayed over me and my marriage which really turned on the waterworks for everyone. I'm so blessed to have such a godly example of a woman from my mother, and love these pictures that Ari Merritt Photography captured of that moment! 

Hair by Jordan Reddick at 30 Volume Salon in Statesboro 

Trying to cool off with my gin bottle!

My amazing Matron & Maid of Honor

Bachelorette Decoration Details

I wanted to share a few of the little crafty details from my bachelorette last weekend! Months ago, after we decided on a beach destination, Kirstie my Maid of Honor, spotted these white drink sand spikes at a Walker Boutique close-out sale. They were blank, and her sister has a vinyl cutter, so we decided to make  monogrammed sand spikes for all the girls as my thank you gift to them! I glittered little wine bottles with Mod Podge, and included striped paper straws. 

Aren't they just precious in my "M" galvanized bucket? We did three different beachy colors for the monograms: pink, teal, and yellow. I think they turned out so cute! 

The girls got my fabulous bachelorette sash from JG Creations by Jenna Green on Esty. Check her shop out here!

Kirstie also did the vinyl for our tank top cover ups. All the girls got pink tanks with white monograms in the top corner, while I wore a white one with my new monogram in a fabulous gold glitter. I'm obsessed with it! 

Kirstie made koozies for everyone too, using her vinyl cutter. While it takes a little more time, I've been in awe of how cost effective it makes all these items! On one side of the koozie it says "Piper's Bachelorette" and on the other it says "Where my beaches at?"

Niki, my matron of honor and soon to be sister-in-law, found these cute decorations at TJ Maxx! I love getting unique paper products and party supplies from the Teej.  

On Saturday night, everyone picked a "nautical name tag" to wear out! I loved how "punny" they were. This was another cool cutter project! I'm so thankful to have such creative friends that are so willing to work hard to make this the best time of my life. I can't believe that trip is already a week behind us, and I've got three weeks left until the wedding. Time flies when you're having fun!

The MOH That Knows: Allison

A complement to my "Being a Bride" series, I've worked with my own Maid of Honor to craft questions for "The MOH That Knows" which features tips and tricks to make the MOH role a piece of {wedding} cake! The first MOH featured is Allison, a new blogger buddy of mine!

Name: Allison Ellzey

Bride & Groom: Chad + Rebecca
Wedding Date: July 2015
Wedding Location: Jackson, MS
Number in Bridal Party: 7

 How did you meet the bride and groom? I went to college with both of them and was actually there when they met on Spring Break! Rebecca and I lived together my Senior year of college.

How did the bride ask you to be her MOH? I basically knew I was going to be the MOH already--so her asking me was really just a formality! I had a box of goodies with a little popper, a mini bottle of wine and nail polish!


What about the dress?  I went with Rebecca to pick out the bridesmaids dresses as did another bridesmaid. It was important to her to have the dresses be flattering on all body types. I’m super short, another bridesmaid was really tall, the other, just had a baby! The dresses were purchased from David’s Bridal; we tried on about 3-4 and then went with the best one. I know she valued my opinon (and believe me, I gave it to her!).

Pre-wedding Events: I coordinated the Bachelorette Party. I wrote an entire post on it here.  The event's theme was gold, and pink and navy! I bought and made some of the decor; I worked at a catering company so I got some of the food for cheap and I ordered most of the decor off of Etsy.

Budgeting to be the MOH: Budget close to $500 to be on the safe side {Allison estimated she spent about $750, including the dress, gift, bachelorette, transportation, and the wedding--over a year’s long engagement.}. I like to go overboard. But your dress will cost about $200, a hotel room for the wedding about $100+ and then there’s the bachelorette party. If you’re doing it yourself (or have bridesmaids who don’t want to pay) you’ll be footing the bill yourself.

Being the Best: I was there for the bride for EVERY monotonous and minute question she had. I listened to her family drama, helped her pick which gray looked better, etc. Like I’ve mentioned before, I have a strong opinion on most things, and I’m not afraid to be honest. I was honored to be the MOH. That meant that she trusted me to handle most issues when it came to planning a wedding.

Allison is a blogger buddy I stumbled upon through another blogging friend {Hi, Megan!} on Twitter. She's also a Phi Mu! She wrote a post that included a bunch of tips that I hope you'll check out: http://www.allisonsaysso.com/2015/10/how-to-be-the-best-MOH.html

Connect with the MOH That Knows
Blog: Because I Said So
Instagram: @allison_ellzey
Twitter: @allison_ellzey