my life friend's shower

Hello Lovely,

We got the opportunity to shower our best friend with love and blessings a few weeks ago. Katherine is the most loyal and dedicated friend. She was such a blessing at my wedding. She organized my shower, my bachelorette party, and made sure everything came together the day of. For Rachel's wedding she came 2 days early and helped her run errands before the big day. The woman is amazing. That being said, we had to return the favor as best we could once she got engaged. We held the shower at my Grandmother's house. You might remember it from another big event in my life. The girls all came together with flowers, food, & drinks. We all wanted Katherine to feel loved. The afternoon was filled with good food, good friends, and family. There were a few tears, and lots of laughter as we shared stories and advice for the happy couple. The bride to be got some great gifts as well, but most importantly we got to take a moment to honor a wonderful friend. 

Love you, Life Friend.

xoxo,

alyssa renee

**Clarification: Kat and I call each other "life friend" because we are friends for life!

the producer bride

hello lovely,
i've been asked several times to post some of the things i made to help organize my wedding day. as most of you know, i'm an associate producer for a living. (you can check out my show here) so planning and organizing is a way of life for me. i made two massive lists for the wedding. the first was a master list where i took all of the "what to do when" lists form all the wedding magazines and blogs i had and made them into one document. the second was a day of schedule that organized when everything would happen on the wedding day. right down to my entrance at 6:07;08 pm. (making my wedding officially begin at 6:07;08 on 9.10.11... get it?) this is the list i'm going to share with you today. that way you can see what all you have to coordinate and about how much time to allot for each event. photographer's arrival, family photos, when to start the music, etc. hope this helps you get organized! don't forget to send this out to your vendors and wedding party a few days in advance. i made sure to list important contact numbers for each at the bottom of the list just in case.
xoxo,
alyssa renee

Walker/Maddox Wedding

September 10, 2011 at 6:00pm

Thursday, September 8^th

Morning        All Occasions delivers and sets up tent

3:00pm        Bride and Groom massage at Aveda

Alyssa / Mom / whoever wants one get manicures at TBA time

Friday, September 9^th

Morning        Niles and Doug pickup audio equipment and set up at Grandma & Grandpa’s

Mom picks up flowers from Ridge, Aunt Tina and anyone available helps arrange them in mason jars at Grandma & Grandpa’s at TBA time

5:30pm        Rehearsal

6:30-6:45pm          Big Boy’s BBQ delivered

7:00pm        Rehearsal Dinner

Saturday, September 10^th

Morning        Mom picks up bride’s bouquet from Ridge on the way to the ceremony site

                        Final setup of ceremony/reception site

10:30am      Laura arrives to do hair, Bridesmaids arrive at Grandma’s House

11:ooam        Photographer arrives for photos

2:00pm        Bridal/Bridesmaids photos

3:00pm        Groomsmen and ring bearers arrive to get ready, Alyssa’s parents and grandparents ready to take photos solo with her

4:30pm        Groomsmen photos, Niles’ parents ready to take photos solo with him

5:30pm        Harpist begins playing

5:45pm        Groomsmen begin to cross the cove. Once they arrive, come to house to meet bridesmaids.

5:55pm        Seating of the parents and grandparents

6:00pm        Niles enters, Wedding Party entrance

6:07:08pm Bride & Daddy-o enter

            

The Ceremony

-        Welcome

-        Daddy-o gives away the bride

-        Papa says a prayer

-        Taylor reads

-        Amy reads

-        Letters from Bride and Groom

-        Rings/Vows

-        Kiss and Dismiss

Guests dismissed to eat dinner, dinner music begins while family takes photos, and friends carry chairs over to reception area

Wedding Party Photography

-        Family photos

-        Bridal Party

-        Bride/Groom

The Reception

-        Intro for Mr. & Mrs. Niles Thomas Maddox

-        1^st Dance

-        Father & daughter dance

-        Mother & son dance

-        Mr. & Mrs. Get to eat

-        Toasts

-        Cake

-        Put away food, leave drinks, set out coffee

-        Toss bouquet

-        Toss Garter

-        Married couples dance

-        PARTY

-        11:15pm Purple Rain plays to end the night

-        Bride changes while guests line up with sparklers

-        11:30pm Mr. & Mrs. go away to live happily ever after!

Important Names & Numbers

Wedding Location:

Location for groomsmen to get ready:

Photographer: Imago Photography

Harpist:

Caterer: Connie’s Naturally Gourmet

Cake:

Hair Stylist: Bella Salon

Rentals: All Occasions Party Rentals

Coordinator:

Mother of the Bride:

Mother of the Groom: 

good luck and happy wedding planning! hope this helps your day go off without a hitch.

click here to see the pics from how the whole event turned out! 

(mini meltdown... will be finished soon)

when i think about my wedding guest list i feel like this.

first you want to invite your cousin, but if you invite your cousin you have to invite her dad who you don't know very well. then he will bring his wife. and then you have their step daughter who you've never met and BAM 1 person turns into 4. not to mention your cousin's boyfriend. so thats 5. so if every 1 becomes a 5 then my tent is bursting at the seams! i have a list of over 200 people and i can't add a single extra to it for fear that all 200 will come with a plus one. (thought they say invite 200 and 100 will come...lets hope so) in the end all that matters is i will be mrs. maddox. but right now... i'm a bit wedding stressed :( 

send me good vibes.

in positive wedding news: niles and i are going to stores this weekend to figure out what we want to register for! i can't wait to go around pottery barn with that gun scanning gifties for my future home. we also have a cake tasting in the works and i have to pick my bridesmaids dresses this month! busy busy busy.

hope all of you are healthy and happy,

alyssa renee 

wedding pallet: champagne

one. two. three. four. five. six. 

hello lovely,

doing these wedding pallet posts is giving me so many ideas! i think i have finally figured out how to bring champagne into my design. as long as i can remember i've wanted to use gold as a wedding color. at first i thought i would use it for my bridesmaid dresses, but it is a hard color to wear, and my bridesmaids have a variety of different skin tones. now i think i will use gold in the reception area. i'm hoping to find gold ribbon to bring everything together. maybe even gold chargers to use in the centerpieces. i already have gold frames for my special centerpiece project. i also think i might drop chocolate brown. i don't know though. i think i will do a wedding pallet post on it and see if i get inspired to still use it. i think chocolate brown has now been booted by seafoam. we shall see...

happy sunday.

xoxo,

alyssa renee 

wedding pallet: robin's egg

(FYI this is the color mixer I want) 

one. two. three. four. five. six.

wedding pallet: seafoam

one. two. three. four. five. 

hello lovely,

i thought i'd do a blog series showcasing the lovely colors i've picked for our wedding. the list keeps growing! the first one i thought i'd share is seafoam green, the newest in my wedding color pallet. (yes, i know i am mega lame for having a "wedding color pallet" but i'm happy as a clam so you will have to pardon my lameness) i have done so much for my wedding this week. it feels fantastic! mom, bubbie and i went to the rentals place and discussed options and pricing. (man that will suck your budget dry!) i prepared myself to spend half my budget and we actually came out UNDER half. it was very exciting. i also met with a caterer. we ate dinner together and talked about a possible menu for the reception. then i emailed a baker and set up a time to have a cake tasting. (once niles gets back of course) and last but not least, i talked to a woman about making my bridesmaid dresses. amy has been helping be find the perfect gown for our wedding, but i can't find the silhouette i want, in the color i want, for the price i want. hopefully this seamstress can get the job done under budget, but still looking lovely. 

hope you are having a productive week as well.

xoxo,

alyssa renee 

wedding inspirations

my favorite blogger is getting married! lucky me... now she can show me cute wedding ideas. today it was an amazing website which is taking over my life. here are a few images fromoncewed.com that have inspired me!

enjoy!

alyssa renee

wedding planning fun: mason jars

hello lovely,

wedding planning is in full swing! These are a few things that I have planned for my wedding...

Colors: Gold, Chocolate Brown, and Robin's Egg Blue

Flowers: I want a fresh picked look, I also want the flowers to be in mason jars on the tables and maybe even down the isle sort of like this...

here are some other cute mason jar ideas i love

this blog post has sort of become a confession of love to everything mason jar. so here's to you mason jar, i love you so.

all my love and much much more,

alyssa renee