Hello my long lost blog friends, it’s been a while :,)
Life got so busy this year with the wedding and the new house, so I took a little break on here to just be more present during all of it. I want to get back to being more consistent on here because I miss writing and sharing more in-depth posts. Making that one of my goals for 2022!
Sharing a list of my favorite gifts for 2022 for anyone still looking for ideas. These are some of my favorite things, Merry Christmas ♥️
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This Cozy Sweat Set
I put these on every morning when I wake up & drink coffee/read. They’re so soft and cozy.
This was our welcome sign for our rehearsal dinner! Such a great wedding gift for a couple. You can order personalized pieces by Sunday for pick up by the 23rd. They have so many more personalized gift son their website here
Anyone else remember every single thing in the weeks leading up to your wedding day making you emotional!? I just received these photos of our invitations and I’m over here tearing up over pictures… of paper 🤣
But seriously, I cannot get over how beautifully they turned out. They were made by Bella Figura, Central New York printers who make unique wedding invitations the old fashioned way, with vintage presses, the best paper, time, patience, and love. We wanted the invitations to match the aesthetic of our venue and the wedding theme, and they absolutely nailed it. The quality of the paper is incredible…the fonts are beautiful…and we couldn’t be happier with them! I’m so thankful for my wedding planner (Big City Bride) introduced me to the Bella team.
This photoshoot idea is something that was really special to us. I had seen a lot of flat-lay invitation photos, but wanted to try something a little different that really showed off the beautiful details and incorporated some personal touches. Conner’s Grandparents (aka Branny and Pop) let us borrow their beautiful wedding glassware for these photos. They’ve been married for 60 years and we look up to their love so much! Can you believe how gorgeous her collection is?? They are truly attached at the hip and a perfect example of how marriage makes you ‘one’.
The way the morning light comes in through our kitchen windows is one of our favorite things about our new house, so we used this light to shine through the glasses onto the invitations and it created the most magical magical glow. It was a full team effort to get these shots…watch my story today to see how me, Alicia and Conner set up this up for some entertainment 🤪.
Thank you so much Bella Figura for the attention to detail and love you put into our invitations, you captured our vision perfectly. If you are in the process of looking for wedding invitations or save the dates, I strongly recommend Bella Figura ~ their collection is incredible and they can capture any vision you have in mind ~ vintage, modern, destination, etc! They offer one of the largest collections of letterpress wedding invitations anywhere in the world and also practice progressive green printing, using eco-friendly options.
Does anyone know of a company who frames wedding invitations? I think that would be so cute to hang in our new house somewhere. Message me on Instagram 🙂 Only 8 more days!!!
♡
Thank you to @aesthetiica for making my invitation photo dreams come true. ILY
Just coming off of one of the greatest weekends I could’ve asked for with my best friends. People move away, have babies, schedules fill up, and sometimes your closest relationships become long distance friendships. Getting to be surrounded by my girls for an entire weekend was the best 👏🏼 thing 👏🏼 ever 👏🏼.
(Our dresses are Tiare Hawaii, my fave! Comfy, stretchy, lightweight, no bra needed. I’m wearing my fave style, The Brooklyn)
We rented a place in New Buffalo, Michigan ~ a little lake town on Lake Michigan 45 minutes away from my parents’ house. It’s scattered with beaches, wineries, and has a fun little food scene. I’ve taken trips up here my whole life! With my grandparents, in high-school with friends, and more recently with Conner and my parents. A getaway close to home, with good wine, food, and my best friends just felt like the right move for my bachelorette. I have some great memories from bach weekends in Nashville, Vegas, a cruise, etc..but this was perfect for us (and more affordable!).
Plus, summertime in Michigan is just something else..
I need to give a HUGE shoutout to @aesthetiica – one of my best friends and the most talented photographer I know – for capturing this weekend so perfectly. Leash, your talent and passion for your job never ceases to amaze me..I will cherish these pics forever!
I love these girls so much. These are my bridesmaids ~ Rachel, Emily, Lindsey, Harper, Elena, Brooke, (minus my cousin Jessi who couldn’t make it, missed her so much 😢!).
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The Playlist
Thanks to my sis, we had the best playlist for the weekend. So many gems in here:
A Southwest Michigan based vacation rental company called Bluefish Vacation Rentals helped me find this house for our weekend. Bluefish helps with everything from property management to trip planning to make sure your time in Michigan is unforgettable 🙂 If you live in the surrounding areas (Chicago ppl!) and are looking for an easy escape from the city, you need to look through their rentals! So many cute spots – from charming beachside cottages to lakefront estates – for family, girls, or couples trips. They even offer a concierge program that offers things like: stocking groceries, locally made charcuterie boards delivered (@grazebyerica!), firewood bundles, sunset sails, and the arrangement of a private chef (we had @savorandsecrets who was awesome).
If you’re looking to book a getaway to Michigan ~ which you totally should ~ you can use my code OLIVIA10 for 10% off your stay of two nights or more now through 6/30/2022 (book on their website HERE). And here is the link to the exact house we stayed at: Gezellige Huis Bachelorette House.
I have to brag about my friend Elise who helped plan this entire weekend .. she is so incredibly talented!! After being a bridesmaid so many times, I know how much planning (and $$) goes into these weekends, so it was important to me to hire help so none of my girls were too stressed and could just come and enjoy a vacation. A lot of them are new moms and all of them have busy schedules, jobs, etc!
Elise took control and was so helpful and creative with all the details of the weekend. We started with a shared Pinterest board to nail down the theme and colors. We loved pinks, peach, and whites and went with a ‘garden glam’ theme . She also just made the whole process so fun for me, texting little updates along the way of unique touches she was incorporating into the weekend (like the gorgeous vintage plates and the s’mores set up). She found the perfect burlap gift bags for the towels and wine glasses with their names on them – keep scrolling to see the beautiful dinner she helped set up at our rental. Elise is based in Chicago and does all kinds of party and event planning and styling. She knows all the best vendors to use and just has so much experience! You can look through pics of all the awesome events she’s done and get in contact with her here on IG: @chicfromchicago and her website: chicfromchicago.com.
Ok, but THE BALLOONS!! I’ve used my friends at Paris312 in Chicago for so many parties and celebrations over the years. They are hands down the best and most creative team when it comes to epic balloon decor. Their team came up with the perfect design and color scheme for the cottage and the end result looked so incredible! I love how they color blocked the balloon colors and added little touches of greenery. The also created the most beautiful eucalyptus swag with roses in it for the dinner table and put together all the beautiful pink arrangements throughout the house.
Paris 312 currently serves Chicago and eligible surrounding suburbs (which can be found on their website here). Everything is delivered right to you for your party. You can use Code OLIVIA15 for 15% off their entire website!
The beautiful chairs for the dinner and backyard bonfire lounge furniture were all from Ellie Rose ~ a Chicago and Midwest based event rentals company. They have the prettiest furniture and dinnerware to rent – see more of their work on their IG page.
Ashley Frye Studio is a bespoke stationery company based in Chicago who specialized in everything from wedding invitations to art prints. Ashley did such a beautiful job of creating the custom watercolor invitations for the weekend, the super unique menus for our dinner set up, and even made the cute little leaf tags for each girls bag.
I searched the internet for light pink stripe beach towels to give my girls as a gift and I finally came across the perfect ones. I’m obsessed with these Weezie towels with my bridesmaids names on them. They’re oversized, plush, and available in 3 other colors. You can add the custom embroidery for $15 per towel. I’m so glad I found this brand, def ordering more from them in the future for my our home!
I used a few candles from one of my favorite companies ~ Capri Blue! The Blue Jean Jumbo Faceted Jar is gorgeous in purple, has two wicks, and smells do delish/sweet/citrusy.
Personal Touches
I have to give a shoutout to my bridesmaid and the first friend I ever had since kindergarten, Emily. She surprised me with so many cute (and funny) touches over the weekend. She brought a custom cake made in the shape of a ring (lemon cake, of course), the giant cardboard Conner cutout that was the greatest thing ever, and these cool light up HEMPEL letters from amazon. I love you Em!!
Thank you so much to my best friends in the world who spent this entire weekend making me feel so loved. You are all such a big part of who I am and have been a rock for me through all the different stages of my life. I can’t wait for you to stand next to me in 2 months when I marry the love of my life!!!
See the full recap of the weekend on my BACHELORETTE story highlight on Instagram
