well i can't say the wedding went off without a hitch.. cause there were MANY hitches during wedding week.. the bride forgot her bouquet and the groom his tux to name a few... but we had an AMAZING crew of family and friends who helped us have beautiful and perfect memories of our wedding day.. i am truly thankful to everyone who helped this bridezilla that week! check out our beautiful wedding photos by Storybook Wedding Photography!

7 days...whaaaaat?!!!!

yup! 7 days! my last weekend as a single woman! hahaha.. I went to get my hair done today for a trial run.. I was really nervous about it because if I didn't care for it ..I was stuck.. My first stylist backed out so I was in a panic to find another. I decided to go to the salon down the street where I'd had my hair cut before. The girl did great..and did my mom's hair wonderful too. I wanted a bump on top and curls.. She made the bump good.. although I had to go to pizza hut right after.. I slightly felt like Priscilla Presley so I came home and parted it on the side as I usually do.. so I think I'm going to have her do that... but as far as the overall look I liked and the curls.. They loosened up later tonight so they are not as ringlet and tight looking. Big sigh of relief...whewww.... now to superglue my earring that I dropped on the floor at the salon!

the keys...

The skeleton keys have arrived !! ..from Kennedy Hardware online...photos to come soon. The rsvps have been coming in daily.. it's exciting to check the mail and see those little white envelopes with the fleur de lis... Went to my apartment and got the measurements for my windows and spent the afternoon today putting curtains and curtain rods on my registry at Target. I came home and was surprised to see a big box sitting outside the door.. wondering what it could be..then thinking OH NO!!! it's the candy for the dessert buffet! I think it was over a 100 degrees out today..all I could think about was the hot sticky mess inside the box.. Well thankfully the only things that melted were the malt balls.. have to replace them with pink whoppers now.. But the raspberry chocolate crowns, rock candy swizzle sticks, gummy bears, grapefruit sour balls, and striped candy sticks are safe! Now waiting on the lavender from save-on-crafts to come... We did our third session of premarital counseling yesterday and have one more to go...yay... and then I'm going to meet with the wedding coordinator, pastor, photographer, hair stylist, and DJ in the next two weeks. And this coming weekend is the last weekend that I have to finish up wedding stuff before we move stuff into the new apartment and get that ready ..and before relatives start to arrive. SO.. working on the music and slideshow tomorrow night.. and then on to programs, key tags, place cards, seating chart, candy buffet labels, make the sugar scrub and label (for the reception bathroom), enlarge engagement photo, do my last fitting, and pack!

What a great weekend... I went to the pool and babysat my neighbor girls..that was a blast.. tetherball, swimming, and going up to the cabana for more sugar and candy..I love my neighborhood pool..and my neighbor girls! Then Thomas and I made the tags for the mason jars with the lace. He sawed down a pallet we found outside a furniture store and I painted some rustic looking signs, "Thank" "You" "McQuary Wedding" "Dinner + Dancing" and "Mr." "Mrs." Annnnd I made these cute little birds.. The ones I've been idolizing on the internet cost of $200 for the pair! I bought these clip on birds at Michael's and took the clips off..Thomas made some legs out of this twine-y wire.. I made a top hat, bowtie, and tux out of ribbon and felt for the groom.. and used some left over netting, diamond and pearl stick pins, and flowers for the bride...and hot glued...they crack me up. I'm going to have them by the guest book at the ceremony and on the gift table with the vintage bird house at the reception.....oh and I ordered the skeleton keys and pink stripey straws ! ..and the postcard rack is painted a flat black and we found a finial for the top..

So my idea was to have guests (on the back patio of the golf clubhouse) mingle and watch the bridal party take photos on the golf course.. i saw photos of the paper cones out of sheet music online.. saw that others had used them for petals, etc. Then I found the popcorn co. here nearby.. I went in and free sampled practically every variety.. I decided on three flavors.. cajun (orange and spicy), kettle corn (yellow and sweet and salty), and bubble gum (teal! and sweet).. love the teal blue color of the bubble gum..and that was actually my favorite pick from the whole store.. different and unexpected and the color will make the photos pop... so the popcorn is going to be in galvenized buckets (if i can find some that aren't too shiny..atwoods has some but tooo shiny now i think)..and mini chalkboards attached to label them (bought at michaels).. and guests will fill their cones with the popcorn.. i'll have some pre filled in these old wood coke bottle crates i found!!! excited about these.. I have two and they were $5! .. So then I was on stylemepretty blog and I found the idea I had in my mind! minus the wagon wheel cart..lol The cones are all made now..working on tags for the mason jars for the pink lemonade.. ordering the pink and white straws today too!

escort cards

I really like this idea...i've seen it a couple of times on different blogs... (first two photos -elizabeth ann designs) ..guests arrive and find their name and table number on their escort card, skeleton key/tag. I found the frames at hobby lobby half price sale... they were bulletin boards.. thomas and I covered the cork in burlap yesterday afternoon... now to find 100 skeleton keys on etsy or ebay!

I'm beginning to like ranunculus flowers as much as peonies.. I picked up a bunch of ranunculus flowers, small hydreangeas, and lavendar at that store (previous posts) in arkansas... I saw mini french market bouquets at a store here, Windsor Market...this idea has been in the back of my mind for a while.. small selection of flowers wrapped up in crumpled brown paper tied with rafia... reminds me of my favorite movies, My Fair Lady, "would ya like to buy some violets?" So they will be placed in the foyer of the reception or maybe on the front patio for the ladies to take... And then hobby lobby had their 40% off internet coupon ..so I bought six pink paper parosols for my bridesmaids and one for me for photo props!

Here's the photo of the postcard I bought at Border's store closing sale (painting it black) ...and here's a photo of the framed/printed thumbprint tree! (going to stain the frame darker)

I'm loving the pink lemonade~pink/white stripey straw combo... for the back patio at the reception. Atwoods was having no sales tax day..so we bought all the mason jars. I think i'm going to make tags instead of labels. (collage from stylemepretty)

The canopy is ...DONE!! hooray! we can finally watch tv in the living room again! the "poofs" are not as "poofy" as I'd like them..but we have an idea for wedding day..so maybe it will be a bit "poofier." The flower arrangements drove me nuts! I did them both and then could not figure out why the one on the right didn't look like the one on the left.. Thomas thankfully fixed it..lol.. he's so good..and patient! no, i don't plan on wearing socks with heels..but..MY SHOES CAME IN!! YIPEE!! and they fit! I ordered them online...perfect! They didn't make me as tall as I'd hoped..trying them out standing next to Thomas.. they're 4 inches.. which makes me think..gee what do i really look like standing next to him!? Well two things crossed off the list..canopy and shoes!

When I was six years old I was Miss America for career day...I chose that because I had asked my mom who the richest man was and she said Donald Trump..and I said well I wanna marry him when I grow up...she said well then you'll have to become Miss America...haha.. I've been searching all year for my bridal shoes.. I've traveled to stores hours away and also looked online. Trying to find a platform with an ankle strap and that has enough bling is hard to find! I finally ran across Ivanka Trump's new shoe line... (funny that it's trump brand!) I LOOOOVE these! Zappos.com finally got size 6/ivory in. Hopefully size 6 will fit.. I range from size 5 to 6 depending on the shoe..but they do have free shipping and free returns. I purchased the shoes tonight...can't wait till they get here! Then I can try them on with my dress and I can get my alterations done!

our rings!

So in addition to making the thumbprint tree yesterday, we got one more wedding thing accomplished ~ I bought his wedding band! It's not as black as it looks in the image....and the other image is a sneak peek of what my engagement ring will look like with my wedding bands!

At the reception, on the back patio, guests will be signing in on our thumbprint tree. Thomas created this tree last night using his stylus and photoshop. Then he downloaded some fingerprint photoshop brushes to create the "leaves" so we could see for fun how it might turn out after the guests "leaf their thumbprint!" They'll also use a fine point sharpie to write their names under their prints. Still looking for a large off-white frame for it and then I'm going to use the frame I covered in moss for the sign. I bought the leaf shaped ink pads at Joan's fabric and craft store.

I love this photo carousel from Pottery Barn... I've been looking all over for a postcard rack in similar size. I saw one a couple of months ago at a fixtures store but it was over 50 dollars. This weekend I went to Border's book store store closing sale and scored one for 20 bucks! The store closing was a little sad though.. Barnes and Nobles is nice but Border's is so much quieter (and cheaper!) and they put a little chocolate cookie on the saucer of my coffee cup and warm up my blueberry muffins with butter! Reminded me of one of my all time favorite movies..You've Got Mail..when Meg Ryan has to close up her book shop. As sad as it was..I came out beaming that I found a full size postcard rack...and then came the task of fitting it in the car..which i'd forgotten about...haha.. I got it in..diagonally...but it fit! It is currently white..going to paint it black and figure out how to make the top more ornate. I'm thinking i'm going to use it in the foyer at the reception. I'm thinking black and white photos of Thomas and I...or photos of us growing up...or photos of past family members' weddings...or vintage French postcards for guests to take? After the wedding I'm going to use it in our apartment.. for photos..stationary..or even mail!

Yesterday, mom and I drove to Tontitown, Arkansas..near Siloam Springs to check out this store called "Oops!" AMAZING!! I heard about it from my photographer. This store had tons of discounted items...I was most interested in their floral and home decor dept. The floral dept. was huge! Really good quality florals.. I purchased gorgeous white cupped peonies and hydrangeas for the foyer arrangement at the reception. I purchased small white ranunculus flowers,purple hydrangeas, and lavender for "mini-bouquets" for guests to take at the reception (another idea in the works!) ..not wedding related but I also purchased a rug for my new preschool class ~ 4 bucks! ..it was worth the drive..and so was eating at Callahan's Steakhouse! soon we are going to check out this other store "A to Z" in Alma, Arkansas.. it is said they have nine buildings and and tons of wedding items!

to send the bride and groom on their way!

The bubbles, ribbon wands, and recently purchased bells all are done! They will be in baskets for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to hand out after the ceremony. I've been to many weddings where most of the favors are not taken because they were not handed out. I really like the idea of the bridal party handing them out. The ribbon wands are extra special.. I really only had to buy the polka dot ribbon because the rest I already had.. If you don't know me..I LOVE ribbon! When i was a little girl, about 4 or 5 yrs. old, I had this habit of tying ribbons on door knobs, dresser knobs, ...anywhere that i could find to tie a ribbon! Everyone in my immediate family remembers this and now they comment whenever I dress something up with ribbon..even Thomas does too...haha..

pillows!

So the pillows are finally made from those fabric samples I purchased... The pillows are mismatched fabrics and will set on the benches outside the reception venue. I made two out of canvas and transfer paper. One of the images was bought on Etsy..the circular image I made out of a combo of three images I found on the internet. I love, love, love them!

I have no idea what my theme is.. I really don't like having to say it's this or that theme.. I don't like being confined to a theme...I want it to be a reflection of my taste rather than a set color theme or idea. So... if anyone has asked me what my "theme" is...I'll have to say a french country, pride and prejudice influence in some areas, shabby chic, sorta vintage in a way, garden like, country sorta" I like french country..I like the scrolly carved wood, eggshell/off white chipped paint..I like the elegance of pride and prejudice with the stationary and piano forte paper cones..I like the colors of the shabby chic brand and allowance of mixing the colors and patterns, I like the garden theme for moss and tulips, peonies, hydrangeas, ranunculus flowers..I like vintage like the old birdcage I left rustic and old picture frames..but I try to stay away from silver teapots and doilies.. and then there's the country influence.. I am mostly from the south, I want the mood to be laid back and relaxed, we've got the mason jars for lemonade outside for a casual intro, some of the music will be country and i'm bringing my boots! So lately we've made 100 napkins for the tables.. I think it really ties everything in.. they are casual, yet elegant, and mixed and matched.. we purchased the fabric at the new joann grand opening store... funny that the the canopy fabric was from the old store moving sale...

I have always wanted a canopy to get married under.. sorta like a chuppah.. I researched renting them and the only one I found here was $400 to rent! So we found some diy directions online and the frame basically consists of 1" and 1.5" pvc pipes, and 12 connectors...We had to improvise from the directions because Lowe's didn't have the right connectors that fit.. So 15 min. till the store closed thomas is running up and down the connector bins trying to create something that works.. but it works! I'm trying to find some inexpensive pure white hydrangeas and flowers for the gatherings...