The Truth: Weddings & Registries

| The Bee Life

It’s that time of the year again, wedding season! And with every wedding season, comes the cycle of bridal showers, multiple registries to review, and the actual wedding gift…  As a bride-to-be this upcoming fall, and a guest to four-weddings before then, I feel your pain! But here are answers that will help ease some of those questions and help you conquer all your gifts with success this wedding season!
Weddings & Registries Guide - the bee life
The Gift. If you’re like me, you’re often conflicted with wanting to give the couple something unique and not on the registry.  But I’ve also heard from many past brides/friends say; “I just want the stuff off my registry!” I always thought buying off the registry was boring! But, news flash, it’s not about you or me!

Ultimately it comes down to knowing the bride/couple.  Will they like something specific and personalized if you stray from the registry? Or are they picky and have a specific style, so it’s best to just buy off the registry?  When in doubt, buy off the registry.

Money. Yes, it is tacky to talk about money, but it’s a topic many people struggle with, myself included! How much is enough? Especially if you’re attending four or more weddings in one year!  So I did a little research, and asked my friends and fellow brides-to-be. The consensus for a bridal shower gift was around $50. Although, there is an exception if you’re in the wedding party/close family friend.

Okay, so now how much for the wedding? The going response was basically covering the cost per person/per plate. As you can imagine, this could vary depending on the city, venue, type of food, but a low, but safe baseline is about $50 per person. So between you and your hot date, grand total/minimum of $100. But again, this all depends if you’re in the wedding party, family, or simply just a guest!

The Wedding. So back to that $100 for the wedding gift.  Do you just write a fat check? Or do you head back to that registry for more goodies?  Well consider this; a box of envelopes is much easier to transport after the wedding for whoever gets stuck with gift duty vs. 50+ different sized presents. Also, logistically as the guest, lugging around a gift during the ceremony and cocktail hour might not be the most enjoyable! The couple will most likely buy items they didn’t get off their registry (with a discount) with that cash anyways. So when it comes to the wedding, stick with cash/check.

Before I dived into all my registries, I jokingly talked about creating an online fund for our kitchen remodel! But I found something better, Zola Registry! Zola is a one stop shop for planning the big day, registering for your standard gifts from a number of known/unique brands, but also allowing couples to register for experiences, trips, and personalized cash funds for a kitchen remodel or honeymoon!

As a bride-to-be that has spent many hours searching for the perfect pieces, I’m learning a new found respect for gifting off registries and knowing when it’s okay to just gift with cash.

Happy Wedding Season!

Travel: Myrtle Beach Eats

| The Bee Life

So one of the fun parts of traveling is trying new food spots! Although, Myrtle Beach is filled with chains, we tried to find some spots that weren’t native to our area, or were a one off, I think we did a pretty good job!

Sam Snead’s Oak Grill & Tavern
A golfer’s paradise, full of memorabilia and achievements by Sam Snead. The menu is cleverly named with golfing terms like; “Tee Off” for the appetizers, “Water Hazard” for the fish selections, and “In The Fairway” just to name a few. Since it was our first dinner out, the theme and selections were based around the idea of YOLO so I went with a Peach Lemonade Cocktail, Salad and Baby Back Ribs, B ordered the fish and chips.

Famous Toastery
This was a random find for a late brunch one afternoon, and it was an awesome pick! The menu was impressive, serving breakfast and lunch all day from 7AM – 3PM. Everything is made to order for easy customization for any dietary needs. Not to mention they have all your brunch beverage necessities from mimosas, to bloody mary’s and even beermosa’s. We stopped here twice for brunch and each time left impressed and wanting more!

Brother Shuckers Fish House
We ended up here for dinner, again looking for a place a bit off the beaten path with a nice atmosphere and yummy eats.  They did not disappoint, from the drinks to the entrees, everything was absolutely delicious. I ordered the speciality cocktail, a Raspberry Cosmo, I could’ve drank those all night. Then for my entree I ordered the Pecan Encrusted Salmon with green beans, perfection. B ordered the Peppertini (yum!) and Stuffed Tilapia, all the other dishes around the table looked amazing.  It also sounded like their cocktails changed often and the bartender made his own mixers and concoctions, so it was definitely a great spot for a good drink on top of good food!

We definitely ate and drank well over our trip to the beach! Have you been to Myrtle Beach recently? What’re your favorite spots for brunch, lunch or dinner? Comment below!

Cheers!

Travel: #EmnBtoMB

| The Bee Life

B and I were lucky enough to get away for a few days over Memorial Day weekend with my parents in Myrtle Beach.  The main reason for the trip was to visit my grandma.  She lives down there in a nursing home, and my aunt and cousins also live in the general area. So the goal of the trip was to get my grandma out of that nursing home and spend as much time as possible with her!

Our first full day there was a beach day! Yes, we took my grandma to the pier and got her onto the beach. We avoided the more touristy part of the beach, and went to Myrtle Beach State Park – it was a perfect spot with not too many people. A storm rolled in, but we waited it out and the sun came out, the clouds went away and it was beautiful.  B and I got to stroll down the beach, had some fun in the water and snapped some pictures, while my parents walked the boardwalk with my Grandma.
Myrtle Beach - the bee life
The next day we did some outlet shopping, and then made our way to the community pool where we were staying with a pitcher full of Whiskey Sours (recipe coming soon!),  so music, swimming and a little cat nap in the sun, was the perfect afternoon.  Saturday was a morning workout day and another pool day, and then family time with your standard picnic feast! It had been a bit too long since I’d seen everybody, and B’s first time meeting the cousins – so it was a much needed trip and visit.

Although the trip felt quick, the sunshine was needed and it was great to get out of town for a few days. This trip was also special, because this was B and I’s first “beach” vacation – as we’re used to heading out west, or weekends away at the cabin.

Check back in tomorrow, I’m sharing our Myrtle Beach eats!

American Flag Decor Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

In order to kick off the holiday weekend and the unofficial kickoff to summer, decorating with the American Flag is a great way to be festive from Memorial Day, to the 4th of July to Labor Day!  You can leave it up, and your set for the summer so you can travel, entertain, enjoy the warm weather and socialize with friends.  Here is some inspiration for an easy and classic way to feel festive all summer long;

I love decorating with an American Flag, the colors are bright and timeless. Get your house prepped with a statement piece inside or decorate and show off outside, or better yet, both!

Enjoy!

Sources: Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Latest Obsessions 05.17

| The Bee Life

Here’s what I’ve been completely obsessing over lately, spoiler alert, the theme of everything may or may not be summer. Yes, I am jonesing for warm weather and the perfect entertaining pieces from kitchen to patio.
Latest Obessions 05.17 - the bee life
Sources: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 

Lemon Patterned Everything.  From kitchen towels, to serving trays, to wrapping paper, a lemon pattern is bright and cheery, timeless and refreshing.  Kate Spade is currently feeding this obsession and has a lot of perfect lemon patterned pieces for entertaining, and the better part is you can go all out lemons or just buy a few key pieces to play off neutrals.

Patio Furniture. Spoiler, our latest home project is a back patio at our house.  Since we will have true, dedicated space for a patio and dining area, we now need to find the perfect mix that’ll be able to entertain a decent number of friends for impromptu family occasions or neighbor hangs.  I keep going back between more of a outdoor sectional vs. the traditional conversation set with a love seat and chairs.

Outdoor Entertaining. Staying on theme, I’ve been a bit obsessed with finding cute plasticware for outdoor parties and entertaining. In addition to that, upgrading and finding some cute plastic plates and finding a nice outdoor tray has been on my to-do list as well. Home Good’s is definitely going to be my go-to for this, I’m just waiting to pull the trigger.

What have you been obsessing about lately? Are you completely ready for summer mode too?

Weekend Recap – College Showers

| The Bee Life

This past weekend was a good mix of work and fun.

We started yet another house project Friday afternoon, even though we’re working with contractors, so we aren’t doing too much of the heavy lifting, just heavily babysitting. *winks*  But that should be finished up by tomorrow, so fingers crossed we got all the snafu’s worked out.  Don’t worry I’ll share the full project at a later date! Friday night we attended a watch party to watch the Cavs murder the Celtics in game two of the Eastern Conference finals, only to watch them loose at a buzzer beater last night. *grrrr*

Saturday after some of the babysitting stress subsided, we made it out of the house, over to our friend’s to celebrate her 30th! The theme of the night was “party like you’re in college” so there was plenty of drinking games and even a keg of beer.  In order to keep on theme for the night, we gifted the birthday girl with a t-shirt that read; “I Can’t Adult Today” it was perfect! We of course partook in some of the “college party” fun and ran the beer pong table for a few games before we retired and became spectators, mainly because we lost to a few cheaters (you know who you are.) It was a lot of fun, although B and I definitely didn’t party like we were in college. #adulting

Love & Mimosas
Happy 30th Lauren!
Work in Progress
Presents!
Besties with Baby Ash

Sunday was one of my bestie’s bridal showers.  It was fun catching up with friends and meeting a lot of her family! It was a beautiful shower with mimosas and lots of sweets, so it was extra perfect. A was spoiled with all of her beautiful gifts, because she has amazing taste. I can’t wait for her wedding in July!

On a side note, I can’t believe this next weekend is Memorial Day – where did May go?! What are your favorite May memorials of 2017?

XO

Fitness Friday 05.17

| The Bee Life

Happy Friday!  I just wanted to share a quick check-in on my fitness progress this far. Since the beginning of February I’ve been religious with my workout routine, sticking to my 3-days of bootcamp and enjoying every minute of it, well almost every minute of it. It’s hard to think that it’s been almost 4-full months meaning the big day is now only 6-months away.

Since results have been a bit slower, than I was hoping, I’ve started to work to get a few more workout sessions in, including Wednesday doubles. But like clockwork, as soon as I’m getting into a rhythm and groove, it’s going to be thrown off with a trip or a weekend full of parties and places to be.  This is when we are challenged the most, are we going to maintain and stick with our habits that we’ve worked so hard to build? Or are we going to slowly fall off that ladder and fall back into old, easy ways?
Fitness Friday 05.17_the bee lifeAnd this is when we’re reminded, that in order to maintain this healthy lifestyle, to continue to feel good and be healthy – we need to push through the obstacles that face us. We need to wake up early, we need to eat better, we need to pick up that heavier weight, and we need to push ourselves a little harder each workout.  There is not finish line or point when it stops, it might just change.

I’ve gotten to the point where I am tired of the excuses and I’m ready to continually kickass every day so that I have no more excuses.

Happy Lifting!

 

TBT – #CoakleyEverAfter

| The Bee Life

This Throwback Thursday is all about my bestie, and the day she married Travis.  As their first anniversary quickly approaches (this Sunday!) I wanted to take a walk down memory lane and share some pictures that weren’t shared last year on #CoakleyEverAfter – Part 1 and #CoakleyEverAfter – Part 2! All the events leading up to the big day, were amazing from the bridal shower to the bachelorette party, to weekends planning and prepping centerpieces.  And then the wedding, it was so beautiful and perfect, because it was my best friend’s wedding.  I’m so lucky to have been so involved and closely by Katie’s side the whole day! I can’t wait for her to do the same on my wedding.
tbt - coakleyeverafter - the bee life
Happy first Anniversary Katie & Travis!

Some photos included are by: Iburi Photography

Wedding Planning – Flowers

| The Bee Life

When it comes to flowers for your wedding, there are a lot of things to consider, like… first and foremost if you even want real flowers at your wedding! There are so many alternatives from realistic fake flowers to paper flowers! For me, I knew I wanted fresh flowers at our wedding. Flowers are something I’ve always dreamed about for my wedding, lots and lots of flowers… everywhere.  But as you’ll quickly come to find out, like I did, flowers are not cheap! In fact, I had a few vendors reply first stating their minimum price for an event, and it was double my budget, so I kindly responded and said thanks, but not going to work for me!

I will admit, I was a bit discouraged, and started mentally talking myself off the ledge of needing over the top florals, and starting thinking of how I would be able to simplify everything in order to at least have some flowers that I could afford.  Well upon many searches and reaching out to a few more unknown florists, I found my one.
Wedding Planning - Flowers
Here are a few tips for when you start the chats with potential florists:
1. Have pictures ready on pinterest to share with your florist! If you’re talking over the phone, try and send these ahead of time or a link to your pinterest page so you can talk through your vision live
2. Know ballpark numbers of how much you’ll need of hand bouquets, boutineers, centerpieces, ceremony space, hand corsages, etc. this of course helps with that estimating part
3. If your florist is asking you questions about your venue and ceremony space that is making you think, for example – does your church expects that the bouquets/centerpieces are donations?  You’ll want to gut check to see if other florists ask the same question, this verify’s experience and level of detail
4. Because…. if they’re considered donations you may not be able to reuse them in your venue space as additional decor or a centerpiece. Speaking of which, talk through with your florist how pieces can be used in both the ceremony and receptions spaces
5. Get ready to take notes and google a lot of different flowers, I know the basics, but a lot of what I wanted I only knew by seeing it – also ask about similar more affordable flowers that might work to get you the look you want
6. Don’t be afraid to ask your florist for a mood board/image to support pricing to make sure the vision and reality will match!

Our flowers for the wedding, are one of the things I am most excited about – besides the stunning venue and marrying my B.  I can’t wait to see how they’ll turn out, they’re definitely close to the level of my wildest dreams, and I can’t wait to see them come to life, in our venue, on our wedding day!

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