SLP Sooner or Later

Meet Lauren

Lauren blogs over at SLP Sooner or Later. She is one of the sweetest girls I have "met" through blogging. She just got married on July 20th (like my bestie Olivia) and went on her honeymoon to Costa Rica!! We are planning a skype date very soon. She has been asking me for blog advice but I know I can learn a lot from her as well. And maybe I can even see a sneak peek of her wedding pictures?!

"Hi! I'm Lauren, a twenty-something, nursing home speech therapist, almost wife to Dustin, fiercely loyal friend, trying to learn how to do it all...sooner or later."

Blog Design: Burlap/linen background with purple and teal fonts done by Clarke Creative

Blog content: texas life, wedding details, speech language pathology and more

Been blogging since: February 2012

More about Lauren:

Favorite Food? Sushi

What do you like most about blogging? I love the friendships that I have made. Blogging feels like a support network for whatever stage and place you are at in life. It gives you the opportunity to get a "sneak peek" into other people's lives and experience things from another point of view. 

Place you must travel to? Europe. I'm dying to travel abroad. 

Early bird or night owl? Early Bird

An essential start to your day? Cliff Granola Bar (my go-to quickie "breakfast") 

Biggest pet peeve?  Repetitive tapping or smacking. I can't stand when people sit and tap their pens/pencils!! 

Daily Blog reads? Obviously, Designer in Teal! But also, Hooah and Hiccups, Little Baby Garvin, Forever Newlywedded, It Is What You Make It, Mrs. Laura Beth and Wifessionals, but the list could go ON and ON! 

Have I convinced you that you need to know Lauren yet?? I promise you won't regret visiting her blog!

p.s. Don't they make a cute couple??

Lauren's Social Media:

Twitter/ Facebook/ Instagram/ Bloglovin

Want your own spotlight post?? Head on over to my sponsor page to see how you can get one!

A very special wedding

On July 20, two of our very special friends got married and Tim and I got to stand by their side. Olivia and Chad were both part of our wedding and I couldn't wait for their time to come. They truly are a selfless couple and deserve the best. We have gotten to see their relationship grow over the years and now they are finally newlyweds.

They had a beautiful evening ceremony by the river followed by dinner and LOTS of dancing. It rained about 2 hours before the wedding but Olivia kept her cool and even though it was muddy, the rain did stop before the ceremony (I would have freaked out). Olivia was a stunning bride and I am so honored that she asked me to be a bridesmaid. 

I forgot my camera (again) not that I would have had time to take pictures but my sister did so that is what I have to show you. Also if you want to see more from my friend Denise's wedding, check out her photographers blog post.

I did get two pictures on my phone before the wedding!

Me and the bride before the bridal luncheon

Me and the bride getting ready for her big day :)

Ceremony on the river

Me and the hubby lookin' sharp ;)

Me and the GORGEOUS bride

All of the ladies!

The huge bridal party!

First dance

Cutting the cake

We love you guys and wish you all of the happiness in the world!

and a few pics with Olivia and Chad from our wedding!

1st Year of Marriage- A Blog Series {intro}

I am SOOO excited to share something with you that has been in the works for a while now. Kalyn realized that a lot of us bloggers got married around the same time last year and wanted to start a series about our first year of marriage!! 

I am also especially excited because our anniversary plans are finally worked out. I am so happy that I started this blog and have been able to document all of the great times that we have shared this past year. I can't wait to relive all of them this month and share new stories and memories.

If you want to catch up on all things wedding on this blog, just click tying the knot at the top or go here for our wedding day recap (also linked-up at the bottom)

Calling all engaged and newlywed gals! 

What would you say if I told you 10 newlywed bloggers are linking up to bring you an entire year's worth of marital advice for a one time only June series!? Whelp, get excited! 

Meet the forever newly wedded Brides!

Ashley @ It Is What You Make It // Kalyn @ Love.Laughter.HappilyEverAfter  // Mallory @ From California to Kansas // Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded // Maggie @ A Weaving of Grace 

Samantha @ Designer in Teal // Veronica @ Passion.Pink.Pearls // Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals // Emily @ Newlywed Moments // Callie @ My Something New With You

Each of the 10 Brides shown above have been married exactly one year as of June 2013. We will be posting each Wednesday during the month of June on 4 topics of marriage, while including our trials, triumphs, and all that fell in-between. The goal of this link-up series is to encourage the pursuit of love, joy, and hardships within a sacred marriage, all of which are completely worth each minute the Lord provides with our better half. 

If you are engaged, or married, we invite you to write on the topics with us and link up your posts. It doesn't matter if you are engaged and planning your big day, are a newlywed, or if you have been married 25 years... All the marital advice contributed, all the better for everyone involved! 

Visit our blogs today to meet our spouses and learn about our weddings! 

The Topics: 

June 5- Funny Moments From The First Year

June 12- Hardest Moments From The First Year

June 19- What Have You Learned From The Unexpected and How Have You Grown as a Couple During The First Year

June 26- Anniversary Celebration Recap 

We look forward to reading about your engaged, newlywed, and marriage journeys! If you have any questions feel free to email Kalyn here. 

Wedding Wednesday {Kayla}

Today Kayla will be sharing a very important part of wedding planning with you! I have been emailing Kayla back and forth for a while and discovered that she is planning a wedding with a similar "country chic" style as mine. I hope that you enjoy this whether you are reminiscing on your wedding day, planning one currently or dreaming of a future one.

Hi ladies!  I'm Kayla and I blog over at Keeping Up With Kayla.  I'm so excited to be here with you today sharing some "wedding" talk.  First up, a little about me.  I got engaged on November 10, 2012 when the love of my life got down on one knee and gave me the surprise of my life!  You can read our full story here.

So, ever since I have been planning our wedding and hoping to make it everything we want it to be.  We will be getting married on October 12, 2013.  Yes, that's an eleven month engagement.  Sometimes I think that's too long and then other times I think it's not long enough.  Too much time on my hands, can be dangerous. :)  It allows time for me to change my mind, LOL.

So, today I want to talk about one of my favorite parts of wedding planning thus far- asking my girls.

I have always wanted a "simple" wedding, but when it came to who I wanted in my wedding I had to step outside the "simple" mindset.  There are six ladies who will stand by my side on my big day.  Each and every one of them means the world to me and I can't describe how excited I am to have them there with me.

A few are childhood school friends, and a few are members of Brian's family.  But in the end they are all my "sisters".  Since we all live miles apart (boo!) I had to send out a mass e-mail to ask everyone at once!  All said yes, and the game faces were put on.

I picked out their bridesmaid dresses before I even found mine!  They are THAT important to me!

So, my advice to any newly engaged brides, be sure you ask who YOU want and not who others thing you should.  These are the girls who will be beside you to witness the greatest day of your life...

and to help you with your dress when you have to pee! ;)



You can head over to my wedding website to check out our bridal party! Thanks for having me, Samantha!

How did you ask your bridesmaids?? Isn't Kayla adorable? Be sure to stop by her blog!

Remember how I asked my girls? If you missed that, you can read more {here}. And for even more wedding posts, click on the tying the knot tab at the top!

The Newlywed Game {2}

I'm back for the Newlywed game again! Skipped a week...oops :) Oh well, we really enjoyed answering the questions this week. Hope you get a good laugh or two! If you missed the previous one, check it out {here}

GET REALLY EXCITED for this coming blogging week! Our wedding is being featured on Monday, I am co-hosting the mood board link up on Tuesday(get your's ready), and doing my first group giveaway on Thursday!!

AND don't forget to link-up your amazing home on my blog so it can be featured :)

What is your spouse's favorite animal?

He really likes bears....
She likes penguins the most probably because they waddle.

What does your spouse do..what's their occupation? Explain as much as you possibly can.

He is a graduate student right now in Microbiology. He graduates in May and is looking for a research job.

She's an interior designer. (yes NOT a decorator)

What is your spouse's favorite pro sports team?

49er's and Chicago Cubs
The Colts. She doesn't like basketball or baseball but I guess the Braves if she had to pick one.

If your spouse could retire anywhere, where would they choose?

Probably somewhere in the mountains
She would pick a beach.

What is something on your spouse's bucket list?

To see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field
Go to Europe.

What is your spouse's favorite candy or sweet?

York peppermint patties for sure!
Anything chocolate. Doesn't really matter what it is. (add peanut butter in there too!)

What is something your spouse would love to have in their dream home? Like a specific room they want, etc.

A man cave with all of his sports stuff...so probably the basement area.

A crafting room for your scrap-booking that you never do.

If your spouse could only watch one movie over and over for a week, which one would it be?

He would actually never do that because he doesn't like watching movies more than once or twice!
Bridesmaids

Who chose the wedding colors? Your or your spouse? What were they?

We already answered this in our Valentines day post....here

If your spouse could teach a monkey one trick, what would they have it do?

Probably cook dinner for when I'm not home (too much of a stretch?)

Do the dishes.

Tim was pretty much spot on for all of these! Great job hubby :)

and just for fun....

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If you want to know more about "what we actually do", see this post!

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}

Wedding Wednesday #4

Happy Wedding Wednesday! Today's topic is STATIONARY!

Before I get into things, I want to wish my Mama a Happy Birthday! Love you!!

Stationary can define what your wedding is all about. It is the only picture into your wedding that your guests will receive beforehand.

You want all of it to be cohesive but it doesn't have to be too matchy. I was so thankful to have plenty of time to plan our wedding so I could find the best deal and make the best decision.

I knew I wanted our save the dates to include our engagement photos. I spent a ton of time searching for the perfect invitations. When I saw the mason jar shaped ones I couldn't pass them up. Etsy had so many beautiful ones but many were out of our price range. Remember that simple is better for a budget friendly wedding. The more elaborate you get the more costly and time consuming it is.

Save the dates:
Did them myself. You don't have to do a save the date but since we had such a long engagement I decided to.

Invitations:
The Blue Envelope Etsy Shop. They worked with me until we got the font, wording and colors just right! I was more than pleased with them and received many comments on how beautiful and unique they were.

Programs:
Did them myself. I waited until the last minute but still happy with the result. Had to cut them all out!

Guest Book:
Its My Day Etsy Shop. Love my guest book! Its made as a binder so you can add/take away pages if you please. So happy we could do the burlap to tie into our theme.

Here were some of my inspirations photos from Pinterest when I was thinking about my stationary:

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Do you think stationary is an important aspect of a wedding? Do you think mine reflected the rest of our wedding?

To see more Wedding Wednesday posts go (here), (here) and (here)

Don't forget to link up to Wedding Wednesday w/ Mary @ A Happy Wife in NOLA!

Linking up to:

 

XO Samantha