Vacation Days

The first day of our vacation Jack and I were pretty low key. My mom had just been released from the hospital the night before so we were sure we wanted to visit. My mom has been sick since October. She has suffered greatly with allergic reactions and stomach issues. Her body has taken a beating especially since February. Thankfully the doctors believe they know what is wrong and she should be ok as long as she follows a very strict diet.

Jack and I made our way over to grandma's house shortly after we hit up Carters. We have a 1st birthday party to go to this weekend and since it's for a little girl I couldn't resist picking up some girlie goodies. I don't mind shopping for my little boy but clothes for girls are just so darn cute! I got my hands on a few outfits for the birthday girl  (here, here, )and of course I just had to pick up some adorable stuff for Jack. (here, here, here, here) I can't help myself in that store. Those are only some of the goodies I picked up.

After Carters and a visit with mom Jack we met my cousin for dinner. Jack was a total ham and flirted with all of pretty waitresses and customers. It's getting out of hand. My little boy is such a flirt. I swear that everywhere I go some one if not more than one stop to talk to my little flirt. He's such a good boy and always happy I guess people have a hard time not chatting with him. After dinner the 2 of us hung out on our little bridge in town and watched the ducks swim while listening to some live music in town.

On day 2 of vacation Jack and I woke up super early. Jack hasn't been waking up at night like he used too but the 5 am wake up is tough. We did lots of chores and took a nice early walk. Jack's new favorite thing are walks because he is completely obsessed with dogs and in his carriage he is at dog level. He met the new neighborhood Golden Retriever, Bailey. Bailey is a beast but loves kids. He came right up to us. Licked Jack all over and stole one of hit toys. Jack thought it was hysterical. 

 After our walk we went to our local Farmer's Market. Since making Jack's baby food I've been trying to find the freshest, most organic, and local products. Our market is fantastic. There are over 25 booths and so much to chose from. I even treated myself to a crepe filled with lemon curd and fresh from the market blueberries 

The market is only about a mile from our wedding venue. I took a walk over and sat at the boardwalk. I took pictures of Jack were some of our wedding pictures were taken. I just adore that our life has become full circle. 

We did a little shopping for grandma's birthday at my new favorite store, Shelter Vintage and promptly went home for a nap in order to gear up for movie night in the park. 

More on our vacation coming up soon. 

Wedding Wednesday- Getting Hitched on a Budget

Welcome to my second week of Wedding Wednesday. Last week I began sharing the posts I never got to post last year after our wedding.

I pride myself on being a budget savvy gal and honestly my wedding was no exception. We didn't want to go crazy and put ourselves in the poor house when planning our wedding. I was pleasantly surprised when after all was said in done we actually went under our original budget.

The best bit of advice I got when planning a wedding was pay a little bit at a time. My advice is have a long enough engagement where you don't have to jump on the first vendor you speak with. Take your time, realize what you want, what you are comfortable paying and not settle for anything you are unsure of. Also, put your money in the places you will remember and your guests will remember. I'm relatively crafty so we also saved money on our centerpieces.

We chose to have our wedding on a Sunday afternoon in April which saved us 70% off the regular price at the country club. Base price on a weekend during high season starts at $100. That was before any alcohol package was added. The venue was absolutely beautiful and what I always wanted.

I didn't skimp on the important things but we were very lucky with the choices we made. I was able to shop around for 15 months before all of the decisions were made. We were lucky to find an up and coming photographer and her husband who took pictures for 8 hours and we got a disk of 800 photos for under $1,200. As a way to save on our photographer we didn't get prints or an album. Instead we used the dvd and printed out photos via Snapfish and Shutterfuly or whichever had a sale. We also used both sites to make our wedding album for under $50. We chose our DJ after I saw them perform at a bridal show. I thought they were pretty fun and I was happy to see them live before I had to make a decision. We received a discount after visiting them at the show too. Our friend, Marie was happy to make our cake for under $300.

My splurge item was my gown and altering my gown. Having a large chest it was hard to find a dress I looked beautiful in. I found the St. Patrick's gown at RK Bridal in NYC. I can't say enough things about this place. I went on a Monday morning. No one was there besides me. I had the help of several attendants. I spent 6 hours trying on gowns. Because I can't make decisions I was so glad when a girl who was there for a friend's dress fitting walked over to complement me on my gown and how she thought I looked in it. The dress needed a bit of work to work with my body but it was worth the splurge. I felt amazing in my dress. It was everything I had ever wanted in a dress. I felt so pretty. At the end of the night I didn't want to take it off. I used my usual regular hair stylist. She was incredible. She charged my $75 for my hair and $50 for all of the girls and moms. Jewelry was found on Etsy and also a small local shop. Both bracelet and earrings cost under $75.

Flowers were not a place I felt I wanted to spend to much. I love flowers and think they are all pretty. A friend told me she had gotten her wedding flowers at a Price Chopper. I took her advice and was able to stay way under my budget. I chose to go with seasonal flowers and use a bunch of local wild flowers  as fillers.

I was a very lucky girl and won a lot of wedding essentials. Thanks to Project Wedding I won my fiancés amazing Bonobos Italian wool suit, priced at about $700; a hair piece from Bella Bleu Sara Gabriel Hairpiece, a garter from Bleu Garters, a wedding tree from True Woodcuts. I also won my bridesmaid's tote bags from American Bridal and some other small accessories.

I wasn't sure if we should post exactly what we spent on our wedding so lets just say I spent between $14,000 and $16,000. If anyone wants to know how we were able to do it and exact amounts please feel free to message me. In a world where the average wedding is between $19,000 and $32,000. I say my budgeting was pretty successful. Staying half under the typical wedding budget I still had everything I wanted and dreamed of for our day.

All I Want For Christmas...

Source: weheartit.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

There may or may not be a double motive for this post. Although I love sharing ideas and things I love on this blog I also would like my husband to read so he gets an idea of what I would like to see wrapped under our Christmas tree. I married a procrastinator for certain. I'm ok with it because I too procrastinate in everyday life just not shopping. Last year Brian went shopping the night before Christmas Eve and bought me the LARGEST perfume gift set. Sounds wonderful but I really don't like perfume. I always feel like the smell is strong and chokes me all day. Bless his heart he asked all the girls he worked with about things they like so he thought it was perfect. This year I'm wishing he takes a peek over at the old blog for some idea.

So here goes my holiday wish list:

Source: toms.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Melanie on Pinterest

Source: s572.beta.photobucket.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: smittenby.net via Samantha on Pinterest

Have you heard of Origami Owl???? OMG, LOVE!!!

Source: Uploaded by user via Poët Chandon on Pinterest

I'd like a Bermuda (honeymoon location) print for our gallery wall.

Source: spartaindependent.com via Kristina on Pinterest

Fell in love with this Lake Mohawk pillow. Lake Mohawk was where we were married and I'd love to bring a piece of that to our living room but its just a bit pricey for me.

Source: michaelkors.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: potterybarn.com via Kristina on Pinterest

I would love matching Pottery Barn alphabet mugs but this beauties are sold out.
So honey if you are reading this, HI!