Under Construction

So...my blog background disappeared. If my blog looks funny this weekend, its because I'm having a blog designer work on that and a new nav bar for me!!

Happy Almost Friday!

a little inspiration!

Wedding Wednesday #5

Hey readers...you are in for a treat this Wedding Wednesday. Kalyn from Love. Laughter. Happily Ever After is taking over my blog! I "met" Kalyn when we co-hosted a Wedding Wednesday together and we instantly clicked. So please welcome her and check out her beautiful blog! (You may have seen her before hanging out over on my sidebar!) She is a newlywed like me and loves teal! She is very stylish, Southern and LOVES God!

Hi everyone! I'm Kalyn, a developing blogger spending time over at  Love.Laughter.Happily Ever After. I am so excited to have the opportunity to take over Samantha's blog and share with you all a little about wedding shower etiquette. I love to talk about wedding planning and am blessed to be able to share a few tricks of the trade with all the lovely readers of Designer in Teal.  


I have adored getting to know Samantha. I especially love that we relate so well on many topics in blog world and real life. Despite the miles that seperate us, I feel as though I have known Samantha all my life! Reading posts from her little corner of the dot com world is always a breath of fresh air for me. Also, as a new wife, newlywed world is SO much fun. It can also be difficult, confusing, scary even though love abounds. Knowing the things that my husband and I are experiencing is totally normal makes sharing and learning from others during this journey so much better, too! Today I hope to give you an insider look at wedding shower etiquette. So without further ado.... 

Wedding Showers. Let's talk about 'em. 

We all know wedding showers can be super awkward and boring. Most of the time, many of the showers we attend are for people that we have not seen in years. Then on the flip side, if you have seen the people on occasion, things can still get awkward when mixing multiple personality types, themes, food, or activities. As couples strive to personalize their wedding more so than ever these days, many get consumed and caught up in etiquette. It seems to me that the word "wedding" tends to scare people away real fast because of many reasons. Be it emotional stress, financial woes, family dysfunction, or time crunches, etiquette should not be one though. 

My husband and I had three showers, not including our Bachelor and Bachelorette parties or my Bridal Luncheon. He was given a home/garden/tool shower hosted by his childhood church family. I was given a kitchen essentials shower hosted by my college girlfriends. Together we were given a tea hosted by our home church family, which ranged from kitchen gifts to linens. 

Tool/Home/Garden Shower

Kitchen Shower Hosts

Bridal Tea Hosts

I am one of those Brides who ditched tradition. Yep. There was A LOT of judgment and ridicule. But, who's to call me out when the moola was coming from my bank account? Since my husband and I were paying for the majority of our wedding, we decided everything based on our personal desires. From the planning of showers, our wedding, our honeymoon everything was extremely unique and tailored to "us" which we loved. 

Thankfully, many of the hosts who asked to provide showers listened to my director as she explained our wedding theme and made our showers very successful! Today we have a home that is fully furnished and our cabinets to do hold all of the goodies we received. It was such a blessing to be able to know that we were taken care of and were provided with the essentials to start a home together. 

Listed below are the main do's and don'ts of hosting, planning, attending, and begin given a wedding shower. Many of these do's and don't are common courtesy honestly. 

The Do's and Dont's of Wedding Showers

• Do send thank-you notes to all shower guests—even if you thanked them in person at the shower. And don’t forget those who couldn’t attend but did send a gift.
• Don’t ask guests to address their own thank-you notes.
• Do send a thank-you note and a gift to anyone who hosts a shower for you.
• Don’t coerce anyone—especially bridesmaids—to host a shower. It’s a financial burden that many aren’t able to take on.
• Do include registry information on a separate sheet in the envelope with the shower invitation, but not on the invitation itself. The theme of the shower (Kitchen, bath, lingerie) may be noted on the invitation, but color preferences or sizes should be noted on a separate insert.
• Don’t invite anyone to a shower who won’t be invited to the wedding. Showers are intimate gatherings for people you know very well—not excuses to haul in more gifts. The only exception is a workplace shower to which a large number of coworkers contribute. (If an office shower involves only a few coworkers, thoughtful couples will probably include these colleagues in the wedding guest list.)

If anything, no matter the stage of your wedding planning, I hope that you may be able to use these skills in your lifetime. Whether it be for your shower or a shower that you host, spread the love and a little common etiquette. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post today, friends! I would love to have you visit my little corner of the internet and say "hello".  Here's to love, laughter, and happily ever after- Happy Wednesday! :) 

If you would like to read any previous blog post from the Wedding Wednesday series, click on the specific content of the colored text below. Happy Planning to all of the Brides and Grooms! Please feel free to contact me if I can help you in any way! 

1) Decor (Reception and Ceremony) Click Here

2) Flowers Click HERE

3) Reception Food and Cakes Click Here

4) Photographer Click Here

5) Make-up/Hair Click Here

6) Wedding Random Extras Click Here

7) The Dress and Shopping Click Here

8) Save The Dates Click Here

As always, until next time- Happy Blogging! 

Isn't she just adorable??? Maybe I will do a post soon our wedding showers! If you are stopping in from Kalyn's blog, WELCOME! Please leave me a comment and introduce yourself :) I would love for you to stick around! You can find more about me {here}

Mood Board: Spring Essentials

So....I have a special mood board guest post coming up soon. I will be posting for Sara at You and Me are We. We talked, she is sending me some inspiration photos and I am working on a board for her living space! I can't wait to share that with you but its not ready yet so for this Tuesday I bring you a Spring Inspired Mood Board.

Typically my "boards" incorporate products from many different stores (some very expensive); however I wanted to keep things real. If you are like I am, you probably can't afford a lot of that stuff. So I wanted to stick with the stylish and affordable TARGET!

You all know I love blues/teals, but I wanted to share some warmer colors if that is your thing. I do love the coral too! The majority of these pieces are from the Modern Cottage and Boho Boutique collections. I adore both, don't you?

This isn't for any particular room like most of my boards are. It's just a compilation of things I am loving for a Spring inspired home! What are you doing to get your home ready for Spring??

Living:

• Use colorful vases and pillows to brighten up the space without spending a ton!

Bedroom:

• Add one of these bedding sets to a guest room and make their stay a little brighter!

Bath:

• Switch out your shower curtain for a refreshing new feel or use it as inspiration for a whole new look.

Office:

• Use pretty storage bins and maybe it will make you want to organize more??
• Hang up a cute clock to keep you from being late to those meetings!

Kitchen/Dining:

• Get some cheery dishes to use for dinner parties or cook outs!

Once again I am linking up with Beth @ Design your Dwelling!!

 

If you missed my other Mood Boards, you can check them out  here!

• Bedroom
• Office
• Dining Room

I Heart Leopard

If you been reading this blog since it's creation you probably know that I am a little obsessed with leopard print! If not, you are about to find out friends!  I thought I'd do a little round up of some crazy awesome applications! 

I love that leopard goes with just about anything. You can use it as a texture in a neutral setting or wear it with a pop of color (like teal!). There are so many color variations now and the pattern can be very 2 dimensional (cupcake) or very detailed (necklace).

It's a great print for a night out (clutch) or a night in (pj pants). 

PIN ME, PIN ME!

This quote about sums it up!!

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Accessories/Clothes

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Food

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Home/Travel

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Are you as leopard obsessed as I am?? What is your favorite leopard possession?

The Newlywed Game

Because I promised Veronica.....

and because I would love you to learn more about me, my hubby and our newlywed life! Here we go:

(isn't this picture hilarious?)

Samantha's answers in blue
Tim's answers in green

1.  Who does the laundry in your home, you or your spouse? Any good stories?
Both of us. Not really, I guess just that when he does the laundry I always have to remind him not to dry my bras haha!
We both do the laundry and we each fold our own things since she doesn't like the way I fold.

2.  If your spouse had to eat at one restaurant for the rest of their lives, what would he or she pick?
Oooh thats a hard one...he really loves Boudreaux's which is a cajun restaurant in Blacksburg!
She would pick a Mexican restaurant.

3.  Are you or your spouse better at cooking? Any good stories?

Definitely ME! Tim can cook but I think he pretends to be clueless so I won't make him ;)
My wife is a better cook and she usually does all of the cooking.

4.  Which one of you is more concerned about their "fashion"?

Me again...although I do think my hubby has pretty good style. He usually listens to my advice!
She is more concerned about fashion. It seems like she gets new clothes every week.

5.  Ideally, if you don't have them already, when does you spouse want to have children?

Ideally I think he would say in about 5 years.
5-7 years.

6.  Who planned dates when you were dating? And what was one of your favorites?

This was a pretty equal duty. I always tried to make him plan but I came up with some good ideas myself! I think one of my favorite dates with Tim was when we went to Sinkland Farms pumpkin patch! We went on a slow day and it felt like we owned the place it was so empty. We walked around, got our pumpkins and I took pictures. Then we headed back to the little gift shop and got pumpkin chocolate ice cream! It was a pretty simple, inexpensive date but a great time to talk and take in the beautiful sunset!
She made me plan them. There are a lot of good ones. When we went to Indianapolis. We went out to eat at Hard Rock and went to the Pacers game.

7.  What's been the toughest part of being a newlywed?

I would say the hardest thing is putting his needs first all of the time. I am still learning to be more selfless.
You're not just taking care of yourself anymore.

8.  Who is the best with the finances?
Tim for sure...he knows all of the bills we have to pay, when to pay them and how much money we are saving!
Me. Duh...

9.  Who is the strict one?

Tim is...but its definitely a good thing. He tells me no when I need to hear it (like when I am at Target and want to buy everything in the store!)
Probably me.

10.  What will you plan to do for your first anniversary? Or if you've already celebrated your first anniversary, what did you do?

Well we probably won't be able to go on vacation since we have so many weddings this summer but hopefully we can go to a fancy restaurant in Richmond and maybe take a day/weekend trip!
When we go to Denise's wedding, we're gonna stay at an Inn for a long weekend. (I was going to say that but I didn't think it was official yet)

Did you make it all the way through?? Congrats!

And just because I like when other bloggers do this, I bring to you:

Highs and Lows of the week!

Highs:

• Tim got a job offer!!
• Got to chat with Veronica and Sara!
• Planning my trip to visit Denise

Lows:

• The icky cold weather (tired of it...want SPRING)
• having to leave our parents...we visited them last weekend
• chores piling up and me being to lazy to do them

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Design Dilemmas

Now that you have seen how we've gotten to our current living space, I need your help. I have no trouble designing spaces for other people but when it comes to my own place I am stuck. So please tell me what you think! I want to add a few more pops of color. When I look at the pictures of our living room, it seems very beige. My dilemmas today are pillow cover and rug selections! Hopefully we can find the solution together and make my space feel more like home :)

Dilemma #1 pillow covers
The new sofa came with those tan pillows with orange dots which don't match anything. I would love to get some covers for them that tie into the rest of the space. 

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recognize this one from my office mood board?

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Dilemma #2 rug

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Just for fun ;)

Some other Accessories I would love to add into the mix!

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Which ones/combinations do you like best??

If you find any other affordable pillow covers or rugs, please send them my way!

Can't wait to chat with two of my blog besties Veronica and Sara!
Happy Wednesday Readers!

p.s. Is is just me or are you ready for Spring?