Monday Motivation...

That's right... I'm back in action with a little motivation for this chilly, fall Monday. It comes at a time in my life when I need motivation and positive thoughts BIG TIME. 

I had my first real "Bridal Breakdown" yesterday and I'm still trying to get my head back in the game. I have been cool, calm and collected for so long and now that we've got a little less than 3 weeks to go, my to-do list is not dwindling as fast as I would have liked. On top of that, this seating arrangement stuff is killing me...Last minute guest additions and people that we STILL have to follow up with to find out if they are coming or not. It's enough to make a type A, control freak, planner, bride-zilla to go CRAY CRAY! 

When my dad asked me to count the guest list in front of him because he didn't trust my math I lost it! Big croco-dilly tears and reverted back to my high school days when he would just look at me in disappointment and I would bust out in tears... he didn't mean any disrespect and quickly realized how upset and stressed I was and apologized. It just was the straw that broke the camels back. The tears kept coming for a good hour and I had to leave to try to catch my cool again. I just drove for a while and tried to breathe. I went to Jo Ann's to get some more ribbon for a project and I'm sure everyone there thought I was high or sick or something. My eyes were still swollen and red, make up worn off. 

I took the rest of the day off. That's right, I took Sunday off of work, off of wedding planning and projects, off of house chores, off of worrying and list making, etc. I just sat on the couch with Bill and 'watched football' (insert played on my phone and zoned out). Bill asked what he could do to help and I gave him the task of putting tags on our ceremony exit horns. It was the sweetest thing to watch him tie pink twine around the gold sparkly horns while watching football. My heart felt at ease. I knew everything would be OK. 

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Sometimes we just need to take a breather and know that things will work out on their own. I need to realize that people are willing to help, so I need to give up some control. I need to take some time to myself and relax before I go crazy. 

I found this free download yesterday from Design Love Fest designed by Lauren Essl. I immediately downloaded and made it my new desk top.

Sometimes, us control freaks think we can do everything ourselves. However, we quickly realize that we are only one person with 2 hands and 1 brain. Once I asked for help, I actually felt so much better. I am going to keep this on my desk top as a reminder that it is OK to ask for help. 

Happy Monday Loves!

New Camera Love + Minor Changes

I just wanted to share with you a few amateur photos I have taken since the new purchase of my Nikon D5100... because I'm slightly obsessed...

 

 

One of our pretty yellow tulips before they died :(

 

 

A little on-going project I have going on with some Good Will vases and some pink spray paint for an upcoming bridal shower! Reveal of this project coming soon!

 

 

Another little "project" that is taking up room in the garage is my vintage champagne coupe glass collection. Can you believe I found these beauties from Good Will?! I'm thinking of cleaning these up and starting a cocktail recipe series here on the bloggity-blog...thoughts?

 

These were all between $ .50 and $ .99 each! These little coupe style glasses are all the rage at the current moment and the starting price on some of the popular sites are about $5 a piece. {World Market, BHLDN and Crate & Barrel}

And of course, I took some artsy styled photos of my Cinco de Mayo flowers :)

 

 

 

 

Pretty right? I'm slowly learning the settings and all the little gizmos on my camera. It's so fun!

 

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So, side note - You may have noticed that I changed up the name of the blog...I've decided to focus on the original content of the blog which is event decor and styling, entertaining, recipes, DIYs and little bits of my life... aka a "Lifestyle" blog... I am still working on my event planning and styling business on the side and am so excited for my upcoming events and my first wedding coordinator client in July. I just have so much going on in my life at the current moment with my full time job {which I am thankful for}, planning my wedding, my event business, family, friends, trying to make my fiance happy and convinced that he made the right decision proposing to me {this job is not too tough ;) }, and trying to stay fit and healthy. Also, throw into the mix, a few of my friends and I are working on starting a business together {more on this soon, I'm very excited about it!}.

 

I've decided that this year I need to focus on ME. Yes, that sounds very selfish, I know. This is the year I will be getting married to my best friend and the man of my dreams. I want to focus a lot of my extra energy into making sure this event goes off without a hitch. I will continue to blog about wedding inspiration and look forward to posting all about my upcoming nuptials. Perhaps after my wedding, I will refocus my energy back into wedding planning as a business. I do love the wedding industry and continue to be inspired by so many wedding blogs that I can't imagine myself NOT a part of the industry at some point in my life. For now, I will live my life and feel BLESSED to have this life...

 

That is all...just wanted to keep you guys in the loop!

 

Thank you all for following along with my personal creative journey!

 

Real Talk // Priorities

Have you ever felt like you have so much to do that you don’t know where to start? You get so overwhelmed that you just push everything aside (mentally and physically) and focus on an insignificant task that makes you feel better in the short term. IE – I have been trying to “eat clean” these past few days to shed a few extra water weight pounds and have been consumed with it. When I start on a project, I start to obsess over it. I made a grocery list of all fruits and veggies and left the store with about 10 bags of food. My fridge is stuffed with melons, berries, apples, oranges, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, etc…Heck I even bought a Papaya for goodness sake?! Have you ever bought a Papaya? It sounded good and it is good…But, there really is no need for ALL of that food to be in my house. As I sit and think, I realize that I am trying to distract myself from what I really need to be focusing on.

 

Work has been intense and there are some projects that I could be focusing more time on. The wedding planning had come to a halt for a few weeks, but we are back in action and scheduled a meeting with a few DJs this week. I am hoping to nail down DJ and cake this month. I have an event that I will be styling at the end of the month that I have not even started storyboarding. I have so many DIY projects that I want to tackle and post on the blog…The list goes on…That is the thing that helps me calm down and focus…Making lists! I make lists for everything in my life! Daily lists…lists for lists! No joke! It works. It feel so great to check off those lists and see physically that I have accomplished a goal, no matter how small or insignificant it may be.

 

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Much like in life, when planning for a large event (such as a wedding) it is important to know your priorities. Physically write them down. Discuss them with your partner to make sure you are on the same page. Ours went like this:

1)      A day that we will remember and look back on as the best day of our lives. A day that we can declare our love for each other in front of friends, family and God. More mushy stuff…you get the point. This is obviously the first priority for many couples getting married.

2)      Being married in a church – We pondered this a bit when we found out that our church had another wedding schedule on our date. We had to push back our wedding start time to 5:00 pm (yes, I know that typically couples get married at the half hour so the hands are on the upswing, but this I will discuss maybe in a later post). Our venue is scheduled for 6 – midnight, so we didn’t want to cut in too much time from our venue rental time block. I always wanted to have an evening wedding, so this is fine with me. I’m glad we are able to get married in the church where we will become members. We will bring our children to this church and will have memories there for years to come. Of course, church weddings are not for everyone and there are certainly so many venues that are able to host ceremonies and reception in one place. This is completely a personal choice and one that should obviously be discussed between the bride and groom.

3)      Location - Location being Columbus. We thought about a destination, but we both have some close relatives that would not be able to travel that we would want there. Also, we don’t like the feeling of putting any one out and having people pay for traveling arrangements. Now this is completely our own opinion and I absolutely understand the idea of a destination wedding, it is just not for us.

4)      Atmosphere – For me the ambiance and décor is very important, being an event stylist and attracted to all things aesthetic. I was looking for a venue that was elegant, chic and romantic but with a minimalist feel because I wanted the décor to pop. The venue we chose (the Ivory Room) was perfect for my vision. We both want to cater to our guests, so the big open space of our venue will allow guests to move about and shake their groove things on the open dance floor. This is why we chose the venue that we did.

I’m going to stop there because I don’t want to bore you too much with wedding details. Of course, we do take into consideration the BUDGET. Ahhh…the dreaded budget. One of the first things you should do as an engaged couple is talk about your budget for a wedding. Are the bride’s parents paying or helping to pay? Or do you need to pitch in. Are both sets of parents helping? I’ve heard every combination, so it is completely up to what you and your signif (and parents) decide works best.

So, when it comes to priorities…WRITE THEM DOWN! Discuss if there are others that need to be involved. Before you start signing vendor contracts and trying on wedding gowns…You must first decide on what is important to you as a couple for your special day and go from there…

I hope this helps you as it has helped me :)

 

Real Talk: Lent

Bill and I attended church yesterday and most of the sermon was focused on the sacrifices we make in order to better serve our God and our fellow man. I started thinking about what I would sacrifice for lent. I do not usually participate in lent because this is typically known as a catholic tradition, but I do like the idea of giving up something that I may take for granted in my everyday life in order to better myself.

I started coming up with the typical ideas like pop, carbs, sweets...I thought, well I should be giving up these things anyway...Then, I started thinking outside the box... I will give up one hour of each day to working out...See how that is "giving up" something? It really is the act of giving up one hour of my precious 24 hour days to better myself. In order to push yourself to the next level, to really start to be a better form of yourself, you must push the limits of your comfort zones outward. This is the only way to grow.

Then, I thought even further... What if I gave up caring what other people thought of me? I'm not saying I'm going to go all Britney Spears and shave my head and go on a crazy girl rant or anything... But, sometimes I hold myself back because I'm afraid of what others might think. Especially, those that are closest to me. I know that they have my best intentions in mind, but it can be discouraging when they seem hesitant or negative about a particular idea I have. True, sometimes I can be impulsive and want to accomplish a crazy project overnight. This is when Bill steps in and lets me know that I should really analyze the project and make sure it's worth putting forth all my efforts. Make sure the payback equals the hard work. Sometimes, however, the payback is not visible to others. Most people may see financial gain as a form of payback. Of course, it is nice to get paid for your skills...But, what I mostly find comfort in is seeing someone so happy and pleased with my hard work; that I get an emotional "pat on the back" if you will. I also like taking a step back and seeing it for myself and saying, "Hey, I did this! I did this...sweet!"

I am also giving up the notion of comparing myself to others. This can be a serious mood changer. Once I start on a project that I think is so creative and then finding out someone else has done it already is a heart breaker. Or when I stumble across a blog that is so aesthetically pleasing and well written with amazing photos and I start to feel so small in the blogging world. I am going to stop myself dead in my "boo hoo-ing" tracks and remind myself that I am different; that I am great and wonderful in my own way. I have my own path and my own way of thinking and it's ok. I don't have to have the perfect job or the perfect relationship or the perfect family or the perfectly decorated house because the truth is NO ONE DOES! It's all an illusion and I've come to realize this in my 30 years on the earth... No one is perfect. So, comparing yourself to others is a waist of time, energy and happiness...

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So, my friends that is what I am giving up for lent. I am not worrying about what others think and I'm going to stop comparing myself to others. You know where I may end up at the end of this 6 weeks? Happy as a school girl! That is the ultimate goal, no?

 

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What to look forward to this week: Of course some more wedding inspiration from some of my favorite blogs, perhaps a fun DIY project and a few hints about a possible giveaway on LL Styling Events coming soon!

 

Happy Monday Loves!