Local Love: Wedding Edition

| The Bee Life

I wanted to share some local love with the amazing team that helped me pull together my dream wedding! And I can’t stop gushing over how perfect everything was, it was so beautiful, I seriously look at pictures and can’t believe that was OUR wedding!
Local Love - Wedding Edition - the bee life
Bouquet Studio. What sold me on our florist, Amy was her knowledge and love for what she does. We first talked in early 2017 for over an hour; talking through our initial vision before having a lot of details finalized – her suggestions of different greens and florals to use within each of the pieces were spot on.  Not to mention she helped envision a grand space with different centerpieces; allowing me to have some of my dreams fulfilled from a floral perspective, including peonies!

Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes. Quickly becoming a household name in the suburbs of CLE, I’d swooned over KEC cakes and sweets on instagram for over a year plus.  Our compromise was to have a special cake made just for B and I and then give our guests other sweet treats – but we picked the Hand Painted Florals Cake from KEC’s Buttercream Collection; we were able to select colors, the flavors this helped us make a statement especially after topping it with our custom cake topper.

Borrow Rentals. This was definitely one of our splurges, but it was SO worth it.  We really wanted to make a statement with our sweetheart table, which included needing a grand chair – once we toured the Borrow Rentals showroom, we fell for the double wide Settee.  We also ended up renting a few 60″ mirror table toppers to make a statement and play into the space of our venue with the amazing ceilings.  Finally we picked out the Gigi chairs for lounge seating with a cute side table, they were the perfect touches and just enough. Furniture rental for weddings is pure genius.

Campbells Sweets Factory.  We used another local sweet spot to help us fill our hotel Welcome bags with delicious popcorn and also a sampling of cake pops for guests at the reception. The flavors we got; Buckeye, Chocolate Cheesecake and Wedding Cake were eaten right up, they were so delicious!

Little Mondays. Although this isn’t local to CLE – I worked with an artist out of NYC who is a friend of a friends; she helped us create a few custom pieces for our wedding day.  These were also splurges, but for me it’s all in the details. We had a series of our favorite F. Scott Fitzgerald quotes, hand drawn for added accents around our venue. She also created a wedding map for us to include in hotel Welcome bags for guests, sharing the days events and also pieces of our love story!
Local Love - Wedding Edition - the bee life(2)
We also had cookies that were made and brought from my hometown by a family friend who is very talented at making pretty AND delicious cookies.  She made 100 cookies for us that included our hashtag, wedding date, a W-initial and just a pattern – these were the finishing touches to our sweets and coffee table!

It was all the details that made this special for us, and all the details that came together and blew me away. Not only did these lovely teams help bring our vision to life, the customer service and passion was in line with how we felt for our wedding day! We are so thankful and lucky to have found amazing vendors for our special day.

Bee Holiday Hacks – Gifts on a Budget

| The Bee Life

Bee Holiday Hacks are back! And this is a fun one I am excited to share with all of you. One thing about the holidays that both B and I absolutely LOVE is to spoil and go over the top for presents, especially with each other. But there have been years,  that major life events happen like a new job,  buying a house, or getting married… so money hasn’t always flowed as much as we like and we need to budget, AKA reality.
Bee Holiday Hacks - Gift Giving - the bee lifeSo in years past we try to limit each other, and set expectations ahead of time. But how you may ask? Here are some hacks for saving cash while still spoiling your loved one and having a meaningful Christmas!

Talk about it. First things, first. You need to be on the same page with your people or person. Set the expectation that this Christmas isn’t going to be as extravagant as past Christmas’ and ask that they respect and reciprocate.  This goes with family too, I’m sure everyone would like to feel a little less pressure around the holidays especially financially.

Pick Gift Themes.  So this past Christmas B and I picked 5-categories of gifts that we each had to get for each other. One of them could be on the higher end, but the other ones had to be modestly priced.  Here were our categories (1) An Experience (2) Something for the House (3) An Inside Joke (4) A DIY (5) Something for the Wedding.  I bought half-marathon race registration for our experience, and B got us tickets for a sushi making class. For the DIY, B attempted to make me a sofa table and also made cookie trays – while I ended up making B do is own DIY for our laundry room, haha! It was really fun to see what each of us came up with, and had fun doing it and stories to share with each other after the fact.

Stocking Price Limit. I love stockings – but these can get a bit out of hand as well. So we put a price limit on these too; i.e. $50 or 10 gifts under $10. Again this is something you could put categories too or mini-checklists!

White Elephant. When it comes to the <extended> family; don’t be afraid to suggest a white elephant exchange OR the exact opposite, don’t be afraid to opt out of the family exchange.  We used to do a cousin exchange but as we’ve gotten older and schedules get jumbled we now just do a family wide white-elephant, totally optional, totally fun and no pressure!

We need to remember it’s OK to slow down, and take a back seat every once in a while, the great thing about Christmas is that it happens every year. Oh! And it’s not all about the gifts.

Photo Source: Extra Petite 

#EmnBWed – Sneak Peak

| The Bee Life

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a blessed and loving day with family, friends, loved ones and furry pals.  Our Thanksgiving this year was one for the books and a bit out of the ordinary since we were on our honeymoon! But more to come on that… so since we finally tied the knot, I wanted to give my readers a little sneak peak of our wedding since we are anxiously awaiting the final photos from our photographers – although they have teased us with a few.
IMG_5718 2
In a nutshell, the day was absolutely perfect.  Everything seemed so surreal, I couldn’t believe it was actually our wedding day – I felt like we were playing dress-up the whole day. But it was so beautiful, everything worked out as planned and our guests seemed to enjoy themselves! The day didn’t seem to go too fast, but there were moments throughout the night where I almost pinched myself and a few times when I just sat down and soaked it all in.
IMG_5822
No one can prepare you for what you feel on your wedding day, the mix of emotions, the wave of people, love and support, the overwhelming feelings and the moments of perfection. I imagined how I would feel, what the day would bring, things I wanted to try and do, but you can’t do anything but live in that moment at that very time, and oh what a crazy beautiful moment it all was.

Cheers!

Photography Credit: Timothy Logan Photography

Christmas Ed. Latest Obsessions 11.17

| The Bee Life

Since I was already obsessing over some Christmas items last month, it’s only fitting to continue the obsessions!  From vintage to plaid, it’s a mix of nostalgia and inspiration for the upcoming holiday season.
Latest Obsessions 11.17 - the bee life
Ornaments: Every year growing up it was tradition to pick out a Hallmark ornament to add to a collection, start a new one, or just whatever was the favorite that year. Where I still love getting my annual Hallmark ornament, I like getting other ornaments each year, for a milestone, for B, gifts for neighbors and friends… I love ornaments and they’re so sentimental and easy.

Vintage Wrapping Paper: I cant help but feel nostalgia when I find some prints with a vintage flare, especially with Santa’s! Growing up my presents from Santa always had a Santa pattern on them, and now that I’m older, I can’t help but love that small piece of my childhood.

Just Plaid: This has been a latest Christmas obsession for a few years now… it started with a plaid pattern on our Christmas cards, to table runners, and just wanting EVERYTHING plaid. Where you can’t go wrong with a classic red plaid print, green plaids are starting to grow on me.

Multiple Alpine Faux Trees: So we have one of these adorable faux alpine trees, and I love dressing it up and having multiple trees around the house… but I want more of these skinny guys! Since I keep our main tree pretty uniform and simple – these trees are where I like to have a little more fun and keep the holiday chair going throughout the house! I’ll keep keeping an eye to build my little cluster.

What’re you Christmas obsessions? Are they new and trendy or vintage and nostalgic?

Photo Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Parties – Festive Cocktails

| The Bee Life

Since I’m SO pumped for the holidays this year – I can’t help but get excited for all the fun leading up… the decorating, the tree hunting, our Christmas party, baking cookies, just all of the things!  One way to customize your holiday party is to have a signature drink, these drinks have me totally inspired for our upcoming holiday party.
Festive Holiday Drinks - the bee life
Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer: This drink just looks light and refreshing especially with the garnish of rosemary to top it off.  I think substituting out the pomegranate for cranberries would also be a great option if you wanted to make it a little more affordable and easier to create. This would also be a great drink for a NYE party!

Pink Peppermint Russian: Although I would need to substitute the milk, perhaps with almond milk, this drink looks so pretty and delicious and has Christmas written all over it. Not to mention, it’s a warmer drink which is perfect for warming up your guests from the cold and snowy nights.

Crockpot Cranberry Apple Cider:  This is perfect for a party to start up, and let it simmer and cook in the crockpot while you fine too the decorations and prep the food!  Easily add in some whiskey or rum and you have an instant cocktail to keep you warm and keep the festivities going!

My other go-to holiday party drink is getting the party start with Little Beers, or red and green Jell-o shots!

Cheers!

 

Fireplace Makeover Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Since we’ve been on hold with house projects with all of the wedding planning and expenses – I’m admittedly already secretly planning some projects that B and I can conquer this winter, while the cold and snow surround us outside.  So because I just can’t contain myself, here is some inspiration for a project we’ve had our eyes on.
Fireplace Makeover Inspiration - the bee life
Refacing Our Fireplace: This project has me a bit conflicted – but at the same time I’m curious to see how it would work in our space.  We have built-in’s on either side of our fireplace and these are the original oak color with beveled glass windows.  The brick had been already painted white, which we like and still flows with the space, but I can’t decide if white wood over top of the brick would work or if the mix-match of textures is what makes currently work. We definitely don’t want to paint the original built-in’s… they’re original features with original wood, and it would be so painful to do that!  Check out our current fireplace!

New Tile in Front of Fireplace: Because the refacing is a bit more conflicting, we may end up doing this project before jumping all in, since this might be the only update we need to help with the space.  Currently we have maroon tiles in front of our fireplace that meet up with our original oak floors.  We’ve been talking about replacing these for awhile, and since we finally have one tiling project under our belts – we are feeling confident, plus it’s a small space! Updating these dated maroon tiles with some white marble would really make this space pop and be a clean look.

One of the reasons we love our house so much is because it’s a century home and we love a lot of the original features, like the natural woodwork, the built-in’s in both our dining and living room and our hardwood floors.  So whenever we’re updating a space,  we make updates that only enhance and highlight those original features we love!

Photo Sources:  Left Image | Right Image

Fitness Friday 11.17

| The Bee Life

It’s that time of the month to check in and reflect on our fitness goals, our journey to a healthy 2017. Have you been sticking in there? Have you been reaching your goals?

I’m writing today, a bit stunned, yet so proud of all I’ve been able to accomplish. The last few years have been such a constant roller coaster to try and get on track with a healthy routine and consistent exercise. And finally, finally after nearly over a year I am seeing amazing results and I’m actually meeting my goals – goals I wanted so bad but wasn’t confident in achieving. Why? Because for 7-months I got stronger and made progress, but small progress and never saw the number move at all.
Fitness Friday 11.17 - the bee lifeThis past week I had another health assessment with my trainer, and from where I started to where I am now… and what I even accomplished in the last 2-months, I finally made it over the hump! So much so that I was even named the October Client of the Month, a secret goal of wanting to see my name on the board these last 9-months.

So moral of the story. Don’t give up. Keep pushing strong. Work to see progress and track it. Relish in your new strengths. Challenge yourself. Kick ass.

 

#EmnBWed – The Final Update

| The Bee Life

In case I have any avid bee readers out there – yes, I’m still getting married, and no, we haven’t gotten married yet! But it’s happening, and it’s happening very soon! I figured I would fill you all in with the latest and greatest, but keeping in bee fashion and not spilling too many deets of the big day.IMG_4765So about a month ago, we hit a few hiccups – and I’m only sharing in case any other brides are reading and have experienced the same thing; and I’m sure many have experienced much worse.  All of the following hit at once; B started a new job, B lost his voice and was diagnosed with a paralyzed vocal cord (still happening, 5-weeks strong), the electric in our garage magically stopped working ($$$), my debit account got hacked and drained my savings account – thank you overdraft, oh and our DJ mentioned he was declaring bankruptcy.   We rallied through most of these and as mentioned, B is still working through the whole paralyzed vocal cord diagnosis, which is pretty crazy, since one day within a few hours he just couldn’t talk. Our awesome and super handy neighbor was able to help us through the garage electrical drama and saved us the money and headaches we would’ve had to manage had we gone the contractor route. And we’re learning to have a little faith with our DJ. But woah, was it a lot, all at once.

So now that hopefully the worse is behind us… here are all the things I’m most excited for, and I think B would probably agree about most after our recent chats.

  • Seeing the reception venue all set-up and all the tables put together – it has all been a vision in my head for well over a year… and I can’t wait to see it all put together.
  • Walking down the aisle to B and seeing him all done up in his suit!
  • My Father/Daughter dance – it’s going to be a tear jerker but that’s all I’m saying.
  • Dancing the night away with B, our family and friends.
  • Eating MY wedding cake and drinking champagne!
  • Finally being B’s wife!

The details have come together quite nicely, there are still a few things to do on the list but nothing crazy it’ll only be a matter of time before I’m straight butterflies, complete ADD, and ready to walk down that aisle to my husband!

Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to share all the details and a behind the scenes look on the blog later this month!

Until then! XO!

Photo Credit: Timothy Logan Photography

Weekend Recap – Fall Faves

| The Bee Life

Guys! It’s November! And we kicked off the start of wedding month soaking in all of our fall favorite things and got away for a nice little overnight getaway.   We headed east to our perfect spot when we just want to get away, and it just so happens to be close to our second favorite spot – Souther Tier Brewery.

We were able to leisurely wake up and enjoy the morning at home before hitting the road and grabbing a Starbucks including Moz’s pupachino! She now knows when we’re in the drive thru or spots our Starbucks cups and thinks they’re all for her, #spoiled.  Once we arrived at the cabin, we got settled in before heading to our spot for a few beers and an afternoon snack.
Weekend Recap - the bee life
We’ve been lucky enough to make this a little tradition the last few years, with Southern Tier Brewery being a must-stop, so we were so happy we were able to squeeze it in this year! We were really hoping their Christmas Ale (2XMAS) would be on tap, but it wasn’t just yet! So we settled for our other STBC favorites, B with his IPA and myself with the Porter. Yum!  The sun was shining and it was a nice afternoon for us to chat the day away and discuss our upcoming exciting events – it was good to get out of town.

When we got back to the cabin, we took Moz for a walk around the property and up to the nearby farm so she could bark at the horses and pigs – we even snagged some quintessential fall photos with the perfect foliage around us.  The drives were breathtaking with the beautiful orange, yellow and red leaves bordering the roads.  It was a perfect little getaway!