The celebration continues...

Every two or three years, my mom's extended family gets together at a lovely beach location for a family reunion. Last month we had our third reunion on Hilton Head Island, S.C. It was a fun and relaxing week of fun, family, surf and sand! It's always great to see the extended Hald family all in one place. We all trekked from Pennsylvania, New York and Texas.

In the middle of our week at the beach, my mom hosted an engagement party for me and Derek! I of course had to have a hand in the planning -- I just couldn't resist!

When you have a wedding guest list as big as ours, DIY projects aren't exactly easy to pull off. Since this party was only about 40 people, I was able to satisfy my crafting craving a little more easily. I created these champagne flutes with supplies from Party City and Michaels.

I bought a couple of packages of plastic flutes, these nifty little fake engagement rings and some twine. I tied the twine into bows with the rings secured inside of them and voila! We had cute little custom flutes for toasting (the kids got sparkling cider for that one).

Even though it was a smaller, low-key get together, I wanted to send out invitations for the party. Thanks to Vistaprint I was able to do that for under $20! I really loved the design we chose because I think it combined "beach" and "vintage" really well.

Derek and I definitely enjoyed ourselves and from what I heard, so did everyone else! I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Me and my godmother Susie!

Derek and I with our gracious hostess

My mom and her sisters, Aunt Sue and Aunt Jeannie (she was the flower girl in both of their weddings!)

The teen girls

Some of our friends from North Carolina even made the trip down to help us celebrate!

(l to r) My sister (Jeanine), Derek, me, Rich (down from NC) and my brother (also named Rich)

The kids and their sparkling cider

That's one of the peach cupcakes I made from scratch! I got the recipe from Pinterest and they were scrumptious.

Cousin Matthew and his sweet girlfriend Macye (are they next?!)

Me and the brides I served under back in the day (missing two)

Derek with the corresponding grooms

These two are excited to be in-laws

My brother so lovingly pointed out I looked like a Stepford wife. I ordered this festive frock from LaceAffair.com

I'm so glad that Derek finally got to meet the rest of my mom's family and that we could celebrate with some of our wonderful cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. Thank you guys so much for coming and for all of the sweet and lovely gifts you gave us! Derek and I are so blessed to have you all in our lives and to have you as part of this exciting time in our lives. And a special thank you to my mom for the awesome vacation and fabulous party!

What to wear, what to wear...

A lot of people have been asking what they should wear to our wedding. I realize that for a lot of my family in the Northeast, simply telling them "hill country chic" is not going to cut it. Here is a comprehensive guide to our dress code, complete with full-color photos!

Simply put, "hill country chic" means "dressy western." Everyone is encouraged to wear a nice pair of cowboy boots, but it is certainly not required. There are actually a lot of great vintage stores in Austin that sell some great boots for pretty reasonable prices (how does 40 bucks sound?) and a lot of them haven't even been worn all that much. If you want to wait til you get to town in March, here are some places to check out:

Cream Vintage - 2532 Guadalupe Street - www.creamvintage.com
Prototype - 1700 South Congress Avenue - www.myspace.com/prototypevintage
Uncommon Objects - 1512 South Congress Avenue - www.uncommonobjects.com

If you want a huge selection of brand new boots in a great range of prices and sizes I suggest Cavender's. There are a few locations in Austin and all over Texas but you can also order from their website.
www.cavenders.com/storelist.asp

UPDATE 7/23/12: www.countryoutfitter.com also has a fantastic selection of boots and western wear at some sweet prices!

I put together a few collages on Polyvore to give everyone some inspiration. *HINT: Click on any of the following photos to go to the Polyvore page and find out where to get each item. You can also click here to see a few more of my collages.*

For the ladies, there are tons of great dresses out there that would be perfect for this occasion and venue. Obviously knee-length works best for showing off those fab boots. Modcloth.com is one of my personal favorite sites for cute dresses.

The menfolk will be pleased to know that jeans are acceptable at this wedding! Why not mosey on over to Amazon and order yourself of Wrangler Cowboy Cuts? They are very reasonably priced!

Top it off with a nice pearl snap shirt and you'll be feeling like George Strait in no time! A nice sport coat is optional (Although I don't recommend a hat, even though they are in the photos below. That might be just a little TOO western.)

These are of course just guidelines. Anything that falls under the category of classy casual is really just fine but it is fun to have a little western flair sometimes! If you need any advice on buying the right western wear you can absolutely consult me or Derek directly. Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Adventures in rummaging

A couple of weeks ago I dutifully got myself out of bed on a Saturday morning and logged onto Facebook. I patiently waited for 9 a.m. to come around, signaling the start of the Country Sugar rummage sale. I have to say this was quite a unique experience as they chose to conduct their sale entirely through the social network with a little help from PayPal. 

The event coordinating company, based in San Antonio and Austin, sold off some really great pieces that were left over from weddings they had coordinated in the past. One of the great things about my "vintage western" theme for our wedding is that fulfilling the "vintage" part is very easy to do using secondhand items. I managed to snag some really sweet pieces that will make great accents to our event design. 

                                  

I was especially excited about this green vintage tackle box. Derek is an avid fisherman and fishing has been one of his favorite hobbies from a very young age. It's what he does to relax and escape to the outdoors. I think it's really important to have elements that represent each of us incorporated into the wedding. I think this would be a great piece of decor for the groom's cake table or even on our sweetheart table. Not to mention I absolutely love the olive green color. It has a great rustic look with just the right amount of wear and tear.

I recently decided I want to incorporate birdcages into the wedding design. I just love the intricacies of the wrought iron that you often see in birdcages. They can be very functional as well. I think they will look awesome with some flowers poking out the sides either on the dinner tables or in random spots throughout the venue. I bought these as well as three others!

Brandi, the owner, even threw in these cute little birdies, along with some other pieces that went well with what I had purchased. She was really great throughout the whole process! I was the only customer in Austin so she arranged to meet me personally so I wouldn't have to drive to one of their offices in Buda or San Antonio.

 This whole shebang only set me back 50 bucks! I was so excited to find such great antique-y pieces for such great prices. I think I may have caught the rummage sale bug. Luckily for my wallet, not all rummage sales are as convenient as Country Sugar's unique Facebook sale.

Popping another big question...

One of the side effects of having lived in multiple places is that I now have close friends all over the country. My bridesmaids are pretty spread out and only one of them lives in Austin. It was pretty much impossible to have them all in one room to ask them to be my bridesmaids at the same time.

Luckily I came across this very cute idea on Pinterest! It was a link to another bride's blog explaining how she used an adorable DIY project to ask her maids to be a part of her big day. 

Bethany used unfinished wood cigar boxes from the craft store to make cute little keepsakes for her girls. I came up with a similar plan using jewelry boxes. After visiting six different Hobby Lobbys from New Braunfels to Cedar Park I gathered the right amount of boxes and all of the craft supplies I needed to create the perfect little messengers.

I used pink acrylic paint, crocheted doilies, some stickers, stamps, gift tags and gold ink to make boxes that were both fun and functional!

Inside the boxes I placed paint chips to match my color scheme (swiped from Lowes), cards outlining some of the pertinent information about the wedding and the bridesmaids' dresses and a little name tag for each girl stamped with a gold cowgirl boot. I also used some scrapbooking supplies to create greeting cards to write each girl a personal message.

Soon enough the boxes were dropped off at UPS (or in my suitcase) and on their way to California, New York, Pennsylvania and even Hawaii! It was so awesome hearing from each girl as they received their box in the mail. 

Thanks for the inspiration, Bethany! I don't know you personally but you sure are one creative gal.

It was a very involved task but it was fun nonetheless. Plus, my girls are totally worth it! I am so excited to plan with them over the next 10 months...

Just carryin' on an old family tradition...

I went back to NY for a visit last weekend and my mom gave me this little guy:

I was so excited! This little swan ring holder has been somewhat of a tradition in my family for the past 25 to 30 years. It started when my mom's co-worker gave her one as an engagement gift. My mom then gave one to each of her nieces (my cousins) when they each got engaged. Not quite the same tradition Hank Jr. was referring to, but still a pretty good one nonetheless.

The swans are not actually available from Lenox anymore, but with a little help from my Aunt Jeannie, my mom was able to track one down on eBay for me!

It has now made it's home on my bathroom counter and I use it to keep my ring safe every time I take a shower. It means a lot to me to be part of this tradition. As a little girl I idolized my cousins (still do!) and wanted to be just like them when I grew up, especially when I became a bride myself. 

My mom definitely wins the prize for best mother of the bride ever! I cannot thank her enough for everything she has done for me and everything she is doing to help me with the wedding, even from 1,800 miles away. Did I mention she bought my dress for me?! Thanks Mom, I love you so much!

Save the Date quickie

Yesterday Derek and I headed up to Georgetown for a super fun save-the-date mini shoot with our wonderful photographer Kelly Cameron! She posted the sneak peeks today and they are fabulous...

I'm pretty sure Kelly was the first vendor I picked for the entire wedding. I met her back in November when my mom came to visit. My mom, Debbie (my future mother-in-law) and I went to a bridal expo in San Antonio. Of all the vendors there, Kelly made the most lasting impression of all. She is friendly, quirky, energetic, sweet and most of all, incredibly talented! Her work is absolutely amazing (which I suggest you visit kellycameron.net to see more). She has an artistic style and works very hard to capture the true personality and essence of her subjects. Aside from her amazing work, she is one of the nicest, most fun people you will ever meet. Personality is very important in a wedding photographer as you will be spending quite a bit of time with them leading up to and during the wedding. Shooting with Kelly is like hanging out with a friend! I am beyond excited to have her as our photographer. Check her out, she is truly awesome:

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Save-the-date blog post

Always a flower girl...

Growing up, I was a professional flower girl. Or at least I thought I was. 

I was bit by the wedding bug at only 2 1/2 when I was a flower girl in my cousin Kristen's wedding. Even as a toddler, I loved to party. I wasn't supposed to go to the reception, my parents had planned on dropping me off with a babysitter soon after the church. They tried to get me to go to sleep first by driving around, but I was not having it. I knew there was a party about to happen and I sure as heck wasn't going to miss it! They ended up canceling the babysitter and had to bring me along to the reception. And you can bet your behind I was leading the "New York, New York" kickline at 2 a.m. My mom likes to say I put the grown ups to bed that night.

From then on, if there was a wedding, I wanted to be a part of it! If I heard that someone was getting married, I asked if they needed a flowergirl! Even if I didn't know them.

When I was 5 I got to be in two weddings!

I was in my cousin Lauren's wedding and I actually still have some very vivid memories of it! I remember dancing to the Spin Doctors (It was 1993 after all) and watching my dress twirl. I had a band-aid on my chin because I had split it open a few weeks earlier (for the second time, mind you) and I remember my mom got me to cut my ratty, long hair by telling me that Lauren said I couldn't be in the wedding unless I did. I wonder if Lauren and Mike knew back then that one day I would ask to move into their guestroom in return for my services as flower girl...

A few months later my cousin Ed married Grace! I remember being so confused that we didn't have to get on a plane for this wedding. Before this, all the weddings were in Houston and Pittsburgh, but Grace was from Long Island so we got to stay close to home for this one!

For my cousin Lynn's wedding, I graduated to junior bridesmaid. I was all of 7 years old after all. This time I actually had a bouquet instead of a basket, which was a HUGE deal to me. My sister Jeanine was the flower girl and you can bet I passed on my infinite wisdom to her.

When my cousin and godmother Susie married her husband, Bill, I was a junior bridesmaid again. I was 8 but my partner, Bill's nephew, was 13. Being super awkward, I got shy when it came time to dance with him and started crying. Lauren had to fill in for me (I am still eternally grateful). Susie and Bill just had their 15 year anniversary this past September!

When I was 13, I was a full-fledged bridesmaid in my cousin Bill and Lynnann's wedding. I was the only bridesmaid with braces! Since this wedding, I was the next cousin on my mom's side in line to get married. Next March, the Hald clan will finally have another wedding to go to!

Thank you to my cousins for all of these photos and for the practice (now that it's my turn, I feel incredibly prepared)! They flooded my Facebook wall a few days after Derek and I got engaged :)