My Big Sis is...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


It was our very own little Christmas miracle. Ever since Heather was diagnosed with PCOS almost eight years ago, her doctors have told her that she probably wouldn't be able to conceive. But after only four months of trying, she's pregnant! This morning at her ultrasound, she got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. She said it was absolutely surreal.

By the way, the Prego jar was how she broke the news to us. She and Michael got on video chat and Heather told me she wanted to show me one of my Christmas presents, since it wouldn't get to California in time. All of a sudden, there was a jar of pasta sauce with a big shiny bow on top! I was a little confused at first but as soon as it sunk in I started screaming in excitement.

I can't wait to meet my new niece or nephew!

Lovely Veil.

If you have the chance to wear an heirloom veil anything like this one, DO IT.

Check out the rest of this breathtaking wedding here on Snippet & Ink.

*photo by Raquel Reis

"Cute" is an understatement.

The other night when Curt got home from work, he swung the front door open and victoriously proclaimed, "I've still got it!"

This is what he had found on his car earlier that day:





Hey, it takes guts to leave your number on a guy's car. So I gotta give Kristy mad props!

When Curt sent her a text letting her know he was married, she responded:


"Aww, bummer. Well your wife's a lucky lady."




well, you got that right :)



P.S. see how I made the last four digits disappear? photoshop skillz. I haz dem....JK.

Ummm... anyone want my dress?

All that tulle is takin' up too much room... so if you're on the hunt for some tea-length prettiness, or know a bride who is, let me know! My dress made me so happy (look how it twirls!!!!) and I'd love to share that beautiful, giddy feeling with someone else.

It's up on Once Wed and you can see the listing right here. Of course, feel free to email me directly if you have questions!

Well.... Shucks, Y'all!

Our wedding is being featured on the Southern Weddings Blog today!

Most of you don't know this, but I was born in North Carolina, and I'm a bit of a Southern girl at heart. So it's a huge honor to be featured on this amazing blog! Emily, the art director for Southern Weddings, sent us a bunch of questions and we had so much fun answering them. Check out all 3 posts (here, here, and here) and leave us some love!

so i sorta have a crush on these guys...

The balloons, the books, her SKIRT??!?! fab.

Plus, those are two of my most favorite, never-get-sick-of albums.

If these guys lived anywhere near us, I kinda think they'd be our new best friends.


Sarah Rhoads photography, via Snippet & Ink.

Some Merry for Your Mantel

Our little apartment doesn't have a fireplace, but that's not gonna stop me from hanging Christmas stockings! I'm LOVING these modern felt creations from Etsy seller rikrak.





What's the best thing you've ever found in your Christmas stocking?

gorgeous.

I have been waiting and waiting to see pictures from Erin and Chuck's wedding. They are here and they are lovely. Erin is a girl after my own heart and her vintage-inspired wedding at the Dana Powers House was AMAZING.

Emilia Jane, another of my favorite bloggers, baked all the cupcakes and served as Erin and Chuck's day-of coordinator. Both ladies have such rad style, I'm not surprised that all the little details were absolute perfection.

And did you see that veil? I'm DY.ING.



See all the loveliness on Once Wed, Veiled Vows, and Corbin Gurkin's blog.

love notes

Naturally Nina is one of my favorite daily reads... Nina and her fiance, Simon, seem like such a sweet couple! And how cute is this:

"every monday for the last year my love has written me a special note. i laid them all out on the floor tonight and read them all again.

and then i realized... every monday, for the rest of my life, i'm going to wake up excited to read his note. and if we're lucky, and we live for another 50+ years, i'll be the receiver of over two thousand love notes."


awww. I just love love. Don't you?

*Blush*

I LOVE Wiley Valentine's insanely chic stationery, so imagine my surprise and delight when I saw our wedding featured on their blog! Yaaaaay!!! Thanks ladies!


Wiley Valentine's entire collection is on display at Urbanic, a paper boutique on Abbot Kinney in Venice... Curt's been promising me a trip to Abbot Kinney since before the wedding, so I'll definitely be dragging him into this store... thank-you notes maybe?


*image from Green Wedding Shoes

I want to look like this.

That coat is just killing me. And the boots too. But mostly the coat.


Visit The Sartorialist to see lots more Burberry goodness.

like, woah.

Hard to believe it's already been a month.

It's weird settling into this new reality and thinking, "This is my home now. And that's my husband." It's weird and surreal but it's AWESOME. And I'm loving this new role of "wife."

Yup, married life is pretty cool.



P.S. Jesi Haack, my ROCKSTAR coordinator/floral designer/all around superwoman did a really sweet post about our wedding including a couple of never-before-seen pics. Go check it out!


*photo by the incomparable Sarah K. Chen

vintage lovelies

All from one of my fave Etsy shops, Timeless Vixen. All totally wedding-appropriate.

Someone PLEASE get one! Just, uh, good luck fitting into it. The last time I had a 24-inch waist, I was probably in, like, 5th grade. Yikes.

Tons of LOVE from the Wedding Chicks!

I'm ridiculously thrilled because the Wedding Chicks are featuring our wedding all day today!!

Amy and Jocey are two of the sweetest ladies ever, plus they have a great sense of style and they always feature the most incredible weddings on their site.

It's been so fun blogging for the Wedding Chicks as one of their WC Brides... Amy and Jocey assembled a really fun group and it's so great to see all the ideas from brides around the country and around the world! You can read my posts by clicking here.

They had to split our wedding into four different posts because Sarah, our photographer, sent them so many great images! There are a few new ones in there that I've never seen before... so exciting!!!

Go check out each post and leave some comments!

I'm Back. I'm Married. I Have Pictures.

Sarah is a rock star and she's already posted her faves from our wedding.

Go, Go, Go!!!

5 days.

I was pretty sure that, at this point, we'd be ready. All the details taken care of. Done and Done.

And we are. Almost.

But there are still a million things running through my head at any given moment. And I still have a hard time falling asleep at night because I'm constantly checking items off my to-do list and adding new ones.

Mostly we're just excited. And more than ready to be married. We can finally stop splitting our time between LA and OC, and we can start doing all the things we've talked about and dreamed about for years. It's a nice feeling.

We're also really looking forward to spending some time here....

Aaahh, Cancun.

Easy to get to, warm tropical waters, really good food, and everything is cheap. Our kind of place. And my mom graciously offered us the use of her timeshare, so our gorgeous condo is free.

We considered going somewhere a bit more exotic, or adventurous, or whatever. But we have the rest of our lives for that. And when all this planning is over, and we've just finished hosting a party for 100 people, we're really going to need a week of pure bliss. And lots and lots of sleep.

It's hard to believe it's so close! I can't wait to share all of our wedding details with you. We've kept a lot of things secret and I'm just itching to do the big reveal.

Where are you going (or where did you go) on your Honeymoon? Did you plan out an itinerary or just wing it?

two weeks to go.

y'all, it's crazy town up in here. not just the wedding, but moving, and trying to find a new job.... it's nuts. sorry i've been such a bad blogger.

i will give you updates as soon as i can. in the meantime, perhaps you'd like to follow me and my almost-husband on twitter?

Wishpot = My Current BFF

Y'all, it is crazy fun times to see pretty little presents being reserved on our wishpot wish list every day! Our friends and family members are super generous and we love them :)

The thing is, I think we need to add more items! Not that we really need more stuff, and honestly we're hoping that people will choose to gift us with cash or gift cards, but apparently people really love buying presents... all the big-ticket items are being snatched up first.

So... would y'all do me a huge favor and take a look at our wishpot? I'd love to hear your ideas, feedback, whatever. Is there anything important that we forgot? Anything fun we could add?

Click here to see our wish list, then throw me your ideas!

BTW, we've also updated our website a little bit, and you can check that out here.

3 weeks to go! so excited.

Apparently our E-pics rock AND roll.

Y'all. Our engagement session was featured on Rock 'n Roll Bride the other day. Sweeeeeet.

Thanks Kat!

Also... just noticed I have 100 followers. So.... YOU GUYS rock 'n roll :)

Sometimes I really like my job.

I've been working here for the past 9 months. It's been the perfect place to be during this transition period while I'm waiting to get married and move to L.A. and start a whole new chapter. All the girls I work with have become great friends, and I've connected with some wonderful people in the wedding industry. Plus, every once in a while, I meet really cool brides. They are sweet, down-to-earth, have amazing style, and they want to create weddings that are honest, practical, joyous, and reflective of who they are.

Ginger is one totally 100% one of those brides. When she told me she was getting married in Maine and having a clambake reception, I got really giddy. Finally, something different and fun! We didn't have much luck finding the perfect dress that day, but she came back a few weeks later during a Melissa Sweet event and fell in love with the Santorini dress from Melissa Sweet's Reverie collection. After looking at some pictures from her wedding day, I'm sure you'll agree it was the perfect choice.


Ginger and Will tied the knot on July 25, 2009. Although they live in L.A., Will's family is from the East Coast so they chose Portland, Maine for their wedding location. When Ginger told me that her photographer had posted a few pictures, I rushed to watch the slideshow and was instantly smitten. Their photographer, Amy Salerno, did a wonderful job of capturing all the emotions of the day. It's so clear from the pictures that this wedding was practically dripping with love and excitement.


Being the sweetheart that she is, Ginger graciously answered a few questions...

Mason Jar Bride: How did you and Will meet?
Ginger: We met at work - both teachers!

Ginger brought her two sisters with her to The White Dress... I also helped them pick out their bridesmaid dresses!

MJB: What made you decide on Portland? Was it difficult to do all the planning from the opposite coast?
Ginger: Will's family is all from the East Coast, and mine is all from the West Coast, so we had to choose one. It was easier to get my family over to the East coast for a vacation, so we opted for that. It also gave us the opportunity to have a clambake theme. Planning was a bit more difficult, but the good thing about planning a destination wedding is that when you find a good vendor you have to make a decision to go with them - you don't have the opportunity to shop around. Since I'm really indecisive, limited options were really good! Will's family was also a huge help in scouting out the photographer and other vendors.

LOVE Will's seersucker suit. Perfection.

On the first day we met, Ginger mentioned that the wedding would be very DIY and would take advantage of the multifaceted talents of friends and family. Here's what her photographer said about the DIY approach: Family and friends were the central focus of the event. Ginger’s aunts created the beautiful floral arrangements and bouquets, a friend of the groom performed the ceremony, and the reception was rocking thanks to the talents of many of the guests. Every time I turned around someone new was up on stage. The groom even took a turn at the mike and keyboards.

MJB: Is there anything you DIY'd that you wish you hadn't? Or vice-versa?
Ginger: DIY things were the flowers, band, favors, invitations, place card rocks, programs and my hair and makeup. They all all turned out great I think, but all in all I was a busy bride. I don't regret any of it though - I loved it all.



MJB: Was there an overall style/theme/mood/feel that served as the inspiration behind the decor?

Ginger: We wanted the wedding to have a outdoor island feel. It was a clambake (which means mussels and lobster) which can sometimes be informal, so we kept all the decor really classic in order to dress it up a bit.

MJB: What was your favorite moment of the day?

Ginger: I had two favorite moments - the ceremony and the first dance. We put so much planning into the perfect reception, that we weren't expecting to be so moved by the ceremony. It was so beautiful, and my husband is so sweet. For the dance, we did a traditional Filipino dance where we jump in and out of bamboo sticks that are being hit together in rhythm. Will and I practiced a ton (not to mention that we choreographed it), so we were really pleased that it was a success.

(Go check out Will and Ginger's slideshow to see a couple pictures of the first dance... it looks like so much fun!)


MJB: Any advice for other brides?

Ginger: My biggest piece of advice for brides is to stay true to themselves, and plan a wedding that they want. I tried to remember this, and ended up having a really special day.

MJB: Where did you guys go on your honeymoon?

Jamaica!! So beautiful :)


Congratulations Will and Ginger! May you enjoy many years of bliss!

Curt's Manly-Man Bachelor Weekend

So the mister is gone all weekend for his bachelor party.

The boys essentially kidnapped him Friday afternoon, told him what to pack, and put him in the car for a long ride to the middle of nowhere.

I've been left in the dark about the whole thing, but Curt finally got a chance to call me this afternoon and I found out that they're camping and fishing in the mountains somewhere near Bishop. Definitely not your typical bachelor party, and if you read his blog you know that Curt's not exactly a rough-and-tumble mountain man...

But they're sleeping on the ground in tents, bathing in a stream, and apparently they hiked about 4 miles today to get to the lake to go fishing. I would looooove to see that.

Dear Dane, Dan, and Ryan: Thanks for not taking him to Mexico. Or Vegas. I appreciate it.

On a completely different note, this episode of It's Me Or the Dog is playing as I type.

Yeah, Corrie, that one's just for you.

Grab a Comfy Seat.

'Cuz this is a looooong post.


I'm so excited to finally share our engagement photos with you! Our awesome photographer, Sarah K. Chen, met us at the Orange County fair on a hot sunny afternoon at the end of July. We had SO MUCH FUN taking pictures and pigging out on delicious fair food. There are almost 150 pictures on the disc we got from Sarah, and it was hard to pick our favorites, but here's a nice little sampling...

Ok, yes. The oversized-balloons-at-your-engagement-session thing is getting a little cliche around the blogs. I realize that. But at this point I had been obsessing over Joanna's pictures for, like, a year, so whatever. We had to have them. And they were perfect for the fair. And it was FUN, damn it.




What we learned from this, #1: We look kind of funny when we're kissing. We need to work on that.


Always a sucker for shoe shots...


Y'all.

I LOVE Curt's face in this next one. Doesn't he look SO happy? Every time I see it I just want to give him a big squeeze.



We brought Corrie and Ryan along so we'd have some extra hands. They were life savers. (Thanks guys!) Unfortunately, we had an escapee when trying to transfer the balloons from one pair of hands to another...



We tried to get a good shot of our silhouette but you can't tell people at the fair what to do! This one guy had no clue what was going on, and we couldn't get him to move. So his shadow is in the shot too. After several failed attempts to get a clear shot, we just got over it.



That thing we're standing on? It's the middle section of this big planter with a small brick wall all the way around it, and of course there were like 20 people sitting there, but Sarah was determined to get us up there, so we just asked really nicely and people let us squeeze through them. It was not easy to climb up there in a dress and heels. But so. worth. it.


The lucky recipients of the big yellow balloons! They were so cute :)


Hands-down FAVE:




For me, the fair is really all about the food. And the roasted corn? Like Mr. Pibb and Red Vines, it's crazy delicious.



While Sarah adjusted her settings, we got down with our bad selves.



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