Our Wedding: Bridesmaid Gift Ideas

Hey guys!

Today I wanted to share with you something that I wasn't able to share prior to the wedding, what I got for my bridesmaids!

I wasn't able to share this since I didn't want any of my bridesmaids to stumble across this post and see what I bought them in advance. But now, I'm free to share everything!

The first thing I purchased was something I knew I definitely wanted since it would hold everything else. I knew I wanted to get them a good quality tote bag and when I saw Alexandra Garza's Youtube video of the bags she bought for her bridesmaids I followed her link and found these beauties from Ballard Designs:

I thought the aqua color would fit in perfectly with my beauty theme and I even picked up one of these for myself! They are super sturdy and hold quite a bit inside. I got each one embroidered with the first initial of each persons first name. I liked the idea of personalizing them in some way but I'm not a huge fan of monograms. Three out of seven of my bridesmaids are married which means the other four could eventually change their names and their monogram would change...so first initials made sense.

Now, buying the bags meant that I could fill them with all sorts of things, so I got to work figuring out what else would go inside. The next item was a Kendra Scott bracelet in slate.

I wanted a simple bracelet that they could wear (or not) during the wedding but also would be a simple complimentary piece for their jewelry collection.  I thought these were pretty and simple but were also quite a bit smaller when I received them then I think they were pictured online!

Even though we got married in October, I was doing a beach theme for the wedding so I couldn't skip getting the girls a towel!

I found these towels at Kohl's and unfortunately they are discontinued but every year they come back with new designs and colors. They are called The Big One Beach Towels and they are big, soft beach towels that I personally love and would recommend!

Now I also tossed a few small things in their bags as well and since they were small things I picked up in stores I don't have links for most of them, but you can certainly find similar things.

I love the smell of Pink Sands and thought it was perfect for my theme and also made the bags smell great! I found these at Kohl's and I'm not sure you an find the same container online but if you check Yankee Candle you can certainly find this scent!

I also picked up beach themed notepads from Target. Also while in Target I grabbed everyone a small bath bomb which I thought was just a fun, relaxing addition.,

The Bride Tribe hand sanitizers came from Bath and Body Works and I ordered these on a whim while placing a huge Bath and Body Works order. I also gave one to my mom when she stopped by my apartment one day.

Finally, I bought the girls a little gift to use the day of the wedding.

 I saw this picture and thought that a group picture with these blush robes for the girls and a white robe for me would be so cute! So I picked up a blush robe for each of them (again with just their initial instead of monogram) and grabbed a white robe for myself.

Since Rachel was my matron of honor I wanted to make sure she got something extra so I packed a separate gift for her.

The first thing I knew I wanted to get her was a loopy case! I had previously heard her talk about getting a loopy case so I covertly texted her husband, Ant, to see if he could tell me what type of iPhone she had. He had no idea and was zero help (total forgiven as I'm sure he is busy enough without me making him do secret missions) so I pretended to be interested in Rachel's phone based on pictures she took (I'm so sneaky) and then ordered it for her!

I wasn't totally sure what color she wanted but figured rose gold was a safe choice.

I did want to get her a couple of sentimental items and the first thing I found was at Marshalls.

Back in the spring/summer Marshalls had a lot of wedding items out so I found this mug for her. I couldn't find a ton of Matron of Honor items so maid of honor it was!

The next item I found on Amazon

I thought that this frame was absolutely gorgeous and so sweet. I figure she can put a nice picture of us inside it from the wedding day.

So that's everything I got for my girls! I hope this helped you if you are planning on getting married and need some ideas on what to get your bridesmaids. I'd love to know what you got your bridesmaids or what you have received as a gift for being a bridesmaid- share in comments below!

Our Wedding: The Ceremony

Well, I took an unexpected week off last week! I was SO exhausted after such a wonderful wedding weekend and am still not caught up with everything. We are still digging our way out of all the wedding decor and gifts and trying to get back to "normal"

Today I want to share the candid ceremony pictures that I have. My photographer pictures won't be in for a couple of months but we had friends and family take pictures throughout the wedding and I thought I would share them here!

Today we are chatting about the ceremony which was PERFECT. It was supposed to rain and it was supposed to be cold. Somehow we ended up with a perfect 65*, sunny day. I was locked inside all morning doing hair and makeup and hanging out with my bridesmaids so I had no idea how nice it was and was pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous weather.

 I chose to have both my parents walk me down the aisle. It was so nice to have both of them with me while I waited to walk down and to have both of them there with me. I am so proud to be raised by two amazing people.

Brittni, who introduced us was the one to marry us and it was so perfect. She was able to tell our story with little details only she would know. We laughed, many people cried and we spent the whole ceremony just smiling at each other.

We didn't expect to have so much sun, the poor bridesmaids weren't even able to see most of the time! I luckily had Tim's head blocking the sun from my view. 

The ceremony flew by so quickly and we couldn't believe we were finally married!!

We were so excited to get started celebrating with our family and friends!

Our Wedding: It's Wedding Week!

Hey guys!

As Europe would say, it's the final countdown.

We are getting married THIS WEEK!

I have only one thing left on my official to do list: Get our marriage license. Which we are going to the town hall to get on Thursday. I have my hair appointment, nail appointment, and everything scheduled out for the day. The final timeline is done. Today we meet with Jen our day of coordinator to do a final walkthrough. I have a huge list of what goes where to give her. I have a ton of posts waiting to be completed after the wedding. All our decor is packed in boxes...

Everything that's going to the hotel is in one location ready....

We are ready. We are getting married. I'm going to be Mrs. Gooding and I can't wait!

See you guys next week :)

Living Room Fall Decor 2018

Happy Columbus Day! I have today off which has been really nice in order to catch up with a few things- laundry in particular. I decided while everything was relatively clean I should take pictures to show you my very simple fall decor.

I still don't have a ton of decor since we are still in the apartment and honestly I wasn't feeling too into decorating this year since our apartment in currently filled with wedding stuff!

Here are the few things I did decorate (all in our living room) and I will mention where I purchased them if I can remember.

First up my leaves garland across my tv stand. I fluff it up and Tim pushes it down so he can see the tv. Priorities right? This garland was a hand me down from my mom so I'm not sure where it came from but I like having this out every year for some color.

This leaf bowl I purchased this year from At Home and I love the green. I have been loving At Home for seasonal decor I'm so glad they finally put one here in Rhode Island!

My little witch doll "Witchy Poo"  made an appearance again this year- I think she was also a hand me down from my mom. My new sign Eat, Drink & Be Cozy is from At Home and is definitely too big for the bookshelf I have it on but someday I'll have a different place for it. I also have some fresh birthday flowers from my co-workers.

This Hocus Pocus pumpkin came from Christmas Tree Shop a couple of years ago.

I love my little Mickey pumpkin that we bought in Disney World last year. I also have a scarecrow but I can't remember where he came from.

Lastly I placed another leaf garland and a leaf candle on our entryway furniture.

Super simple and easy to put up and take down all of these items and this year easy and simple is just what I need!

September Empties

Happy Monday!

I'm sharing all my September empties today-which seems to include a LOT of household empties and not so many beauty empties this time. We are only 19 days out from the wedding so posting may be a little sporadic (as you saw last week). We have a ton going on right now and honestly some details I don't want to share until I have the professional photographs and can properly show you what things looked like. Then I'll get into more DIY details and share more of the process!

So let's get into this!

Not a ton of empties this month but I've been doing bare minimum around here. Makeup has consisted of eyeliner and mascara. I'm cleaning the bare minimum to keep up because every day my to-do list is massive. Welcome to the final month of wedding planning I suppose.

Every month I save the chapsticks I've used and this month I've finished four. I'm still obsessed with the cake batter flavor and I'm still using chapstick constantly!

Two eyeliners this month. My Marc Jacobs eyeliner wasn't as good as other ones I've had. It must've just been a bad batch but it dried up and was crumbly. However I LOVED this Physicians Formula eyeliner. It was awesome and went on so nicely, I will definitely repurchase this in the future. It's funny how some times the drug store brands are nicer then the high end.

Two candles were used up this month. Tim picked out the Banana Split Milkshake and we both loved it! It was a great end of summer scent and I would definitely purchase this again next year. I chose the Costa Rica candle and thought it was incredible as well. I would get this in the future if I saw it at a future Semi-Annual Sale.

Here is the majority of my used up products this month. I am loving the Clorox Toilet Wand refills. It's nice to replace the toilet brush each time rather then having something disgusting sitting in the bathroom! I won the Acelo sponges in a giveaway and I liked them. I would definitely purchase them in the future. The OxiClean Laundry Detergent was nice but I prefer Tide but would get it again while couponing. I also love the Mrs. Meyers Dish Soaps. The Bluebell I won in a giveaway and I don't love the scent but the Basil is my favorite scent and I will definitely be buying this again and again!

What have you used up this month?