Swept*Away

I'm loving the weather today! SO warm and I have all the doors and windows open! Plus someone down the way is mowing and I'm loving the sounds and sights and smells that are coming with this warm weather! To celebrate, I'm making a packing list for my honeymoon which is coming up in 2 weeks! Eeeeek! At the time that we got married, we were also trying to graduate college, so a honeymoon was out of the question. But now that we have time and a little money, we're heading to Anna Maria Island off the coast of Tampa, FL. I'm also shooting a wedding on the island while we're there, so it's going to be 2-in-1. haha

Here are some pretty things I want for my honeymoon! I'd probably buy them all if I had a million dollars!



1. Beautiful printed suitcase
2. Vintage style swimsuit
3. Plenty of good reads for my Kindle
4. Exotic Ikat Sarong
5. Charming vintage sunglasses

the list could go on and on, I tell you! Too many cute things for an eager honeymooner!
<3
E

The most magical day//photos

I hope you're as excited as I am (although probably not) but my wedding photos are finally here! This is going to be an extremely photo-heavy post, so get ready for some magics!

Most of the photos I really love are in black and white. I was surprised at myself that I loved the black and white so much more, but hey! I guess I'll just show my favorite photos and just kind of narrate about the day as I go along? And before I begin, I would just like to say that my wedding photography was done by Robin Marchant Photography and she did a FANTASTICALLY SPLENDID job! Check out her portfolio!

Ian and I before the wedding were not really nervous. I didn't get the LEAST bit nervous until about... 15 minutes before the ceremony.


Ian claimed he didn't get nervous until he saw my dad and I walking down the aisle and my dad crying. haha

My "something old" was the church-- it was my childhood church and also the church that my Mom and Dad got married in. "Something new" was my gown. My "something borrowed" were my crystal drop earrings. My best friend Mandy (one of my bridesmaids) wore them in HER wedding in July. (I was one of her bridesmaids too. haha)

My "something blue" was a handkerchief with a hand crocheted blue edging made for me by my Nana. It was so special to have something that she made for me on my wedding day. :)


Ian and I decided to see each other before the ceremony so that we could have the opportunity to take our wedding party pictures and family pictures before the ceremony. Then we could hop into our getaway car to the reception and not have to keep our guests waiting. *HIGHLY RECOMMEND!* This was the best decision we made for that day. Things were SO much more smooth, everyone was relaxed and there was plenty of time so the photography wasn't rushed.

My pretty sister and Maid of Honor. <3

My bridesmaids were so funny and helpful and supportive! Here's a picture of them with their dresses on with jeans. haha They thought it would be funny to get a picture like that and I'm SO glad they did! I think I'm going to frame this one below! haha

From left to right: Mandy (best friend from college), Anna (sister), Malinda (cousin), Kayla (cousin), Riley (Ian's sister)


And of course we couldn't resist some nerdy shots. We got the white and black nerd glasses to match our respective outfits. haha We went in front of this old schoolhouse across the street from the church and it was so childish and cute to have our little nerd glasses on and act like kids on the school steps. These will always be my favorite shots I think!





and of course the ceremony was gorgeous. When the doors opened and I walked down the aisle, it was unforgettable. it was night and the church was all lit up inside and beautiful. And Ian was at the end waiting for me and it just made me want to RUN down the aisle instead. ;)

So that brings us to the reception. It was in a ballroom 2 towns away and it was GORGEOUS. We had a little over 200 guests, so there was a lot of people crammed in that room, but surprisingly, there was plenty of room to move around.

For the decor, we went with the wildflower feel and mason jars. Plum and orange colored ranunculus, a large mum, a few teensy peonies, and some "weeds" made the perfect whildflower look. Plus on the tables we had floating candles, place settings, and little cards for people to write us a note or draw a doodle on for our reception guest book. For the napkins, I cut out HUNDREDS of paper flowers on the Cricut, and we used iridescent bolos to stick through the centers and form a little napkin ring. People ended up taking the napkin rings off and wearing them as FINGER RINGS! Myself included! I thought that was precious!



For food we had a dipping bar; chocolate fountain with little jars of things to dip: strawberries, grapes, melon slices, graham crackers, pretzel rods, and crackers. We also had cheese ball and brickle dip for the fruit too.

People were very impressed with mine and Ian's dance skills. HA



Oh! And my dad and I TOTALLY rocked the reception. We had a plan with the DJ ahead of time that we had something special planned. We started off dancing to something really slow and touching.... for about 5 seconds! Then the DJ switched on the HAMSTER DANCE! For those of you that don't know what that is, have a listen here! So we busted that out and were crazy dancing and everyone was so surprised and laughing hysterically. EVERYONE ended up on the dance floor and it was so much fun.




These were the wine glasses we got as a wedding gift from my Mom and Dad. my mom had taken one of my old drawing books up to a design studio that does laser engraving and embroidery and had a few of my little people drawings from this page etched onto wine glasses with our names in my handwriting. (they took the scar and nails off of the little frankenstein dude for Ian's glass. haha) soooooooooo special! I will treasure them forever and ever.


Good friends from far away came to share my day too! Miss you, Allie!


and good friends from nearby too. :) <3 Tori and Mandy!
So it was the most special and magical day of my life. I learned so much through the process of planning the wedding, and appreciate all of the amazing help I had along the way. I could not have accomplished everything and kept my sanity if it weren't for my mom & dad, sister, in-laws, all my aunts, cousins, and friends that helped me make it happen. And most of all... Ian. :)

the most magical day

You'll have to excuse the lack of posts, but I got married this past weekend! I had planned to do a few teensy tiny posts here and there but it just wasn't in the cards. haha So much to do and so many people to spend time with! All in all, the wedding day was fantastic! I didn't feel rushed at all on the wedding day and I was just so relaxed.

The wedding was at night and it was incredible to stand in the doorway of the sanctuary getting ready to walk down the aisle and the church was all lit up and gorgeous. My dad cried, and then I cried. It was just so sweet and magical.

I felt like a movie star with my birdcage veil and 20s style dress. My dress was designed by Mori Lee and we found out it was discontinued shortly before I bought it. The bridal shop ended up paying the designer extra money so that they would make one more for me. Here is the gown from head to toe:


The reception was amazing too! We did a few "Rock the Reception" dances too. Someone caught it on video and is supposed to upload it to youtube soon, so when that happens, I will share!

And one of the most FANTASTIC things that happened on my wedding day (aside from getting married) was that I got to meet ALLIE! it was a dream come true to meet one of my blog pals in real life and I can't believe how amazing it was. Probably the most amazing experience. As SOON as she got there, we ran down the hotel hallway to hug and take pictures. I was sad almost immediately because she's so awesome and I knew she'd have to go back to Ohio. haha


So it was incredible to become Mrs. Davis on Saturday! I can't wait until we get our pictures back from the photographer over Christmas Break and I can share more photos! I can't wait to show all the details of my magical day!


<3
E Davis

5 days to go

until she changes her name.

until he starts wearing a ring.

She has been making wedding crafts for 2 weeks straight.

He continues to make her happy through her frustration.

She is ready to finally stamp, cut, and print for pleasure.

He watches her stamp, cut, and print... and cooks her dinner.

She has eaten too much caramel corn out of stress.

He hasn't show any signs of distress, which is a good thing for her.

She has packed her cute vintage train case with wedding essentials.

He thinks he knows what her gown looks like, but she knows he has no idea.

She can't wait to dance the night away and he just wants to be the Mr. to a Mrs.

5 more days....

until he & she are Mr. and Mrs. Davis.

Wedding Card Box DIY

I am getting married in 11 days.
.......
THAT'S IT! 11 DAYS!
Can you believe it!? I have so much to do in those 11 days, but I'm enjoying all of the last minute details that need to be done. Those are my favorites. :) Here is a wedding project I accomplished the other night after a long day of editing: the card box for my reception!

We weren't sure what we were going to use for a card box... I wanted something cute and quirky, not the same ole "card cage" that they use at every wedding. So one day this fall my mom found this card box that's shaped like a treasure chest at a garage sale! It was obviously from someone else's wedding and we thought it would be a cute makeover craft project.

So this is what it looked like BEFORE:

typical wedding frilly, white generic flowers with pearl trim hot glued on the box. ZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZ

And this is what it looks like AFTER:

I tore off all of the old embellishments and completely started over. I knew I was going to stick some of my centerpiece flowers on there, but it didn't really look like enough so I PAINTED some on first and I LOVE the effect! I just enlarged an image of my flower stamp from the RSVP cards, traced it on to tracing paper and traced it on to the chest. Then I went over it with paint, and accented it with permanent marker. Then I stuck all the flowers on.

I used some of the gem swirls that were on it before and tied them into the flower cluster for a little pizazz! The trim around the opening of the chest is some of the ribbon going around our bouquets and some striped japanese washi tape from my stash!

This project cost me about $2 for the cost of the chest itself. I had all of the supplies already and it was A LOT of fun to do! I think it's cute, quirky, and magical. :) I hope my photographer gets a good shot of it at the reception! :)

ALso... I got a little carried away with the gems:

I thought a gem stone mustache would be perfection. I was right.

BYYYYYY the way! Go check out Creature Comforts Blog from yesterday! My pom pom wreath was featured on their "Inspiration Daily" segment! *so flattered!*

Ok... off to do something productive before work!
<3
E

The Magic of Projectland

So despite being so busy and being absent from this blog in the past few days, I've at LEAST been able to get around to some miscellaneous projects lately which i LOVE. <3

revamping my old ballet shoes from when I was a dancer. I thought they needed a studded edge to them.

hand embossing my wedding invitation envelopes. Whew.

Making cute fall crafts for my etsy update coming this weekend.

Drawing up a storm in my moleskine.

Learning to knit some way cute slouchy hats for the fall!

Packaging up orders from Red Door Vintage

So many pretty things happening that I can hardly contain myself. I never want to go to school or work because I just can't concentrate! Too many pretty falltime things in my mind to be made and not enough hours in a day. All I want is to lock myself up in my own imaginary studio for like... 3 days and just create everything in my mind right now. It would be incredible. Fall is SUCH a magical time for me. :)

I declared this past Saturday the first official day of my personal fall. The leaves are falling, the weather is changing and Starbucks has all it's falltime drinks out, so to me it means autumn. :) Magics.

Loves to all.
<3
E

107 days to go

until I get married to him.

O.
M.
G.

I know that still seems like a lot, but with all the stuff I have to do still, it's really not that long. haha But good news on the engagement front: we FINALLY got our engagement pictures taken! *THRILLED* Robin of Robin Marchant Photography came to my hometown to see the church where she will be photographing our wedding and did our engagement session. Aside from it being the hottest day of the summer, it was a fun time. :) I met Robin freshman year at Ball State and we've been friends since then. She got to meet my family too! Here are some of my favorite shots that she has shared so far:





We're getting the disc with the rest of the images this week and I'll be sure to share more of my favorites when we get to see the rest. :)

107 more days of being Elaine Read.
107 more days to complete all the tasks I've been meaning to do.
107 more days to spend obscene amounts of money on one party.
107 more days until ALL my friends and family are in one room.
107 more days until my last name starts with a D.

107 more days.