A Blonde Wedding: {Bridal Pics!}

Hey ladies! Today is Bridal Pics day! I wanted to show y'all these before I posted our wedding pics, just so you could see the dress in detail and close-up. Plus, I knew it would be a few weeks before we had our professional wedding pics, so I figured this could be a filler post : ) Also, wanted to answer a few follow-up questions I've gotten via email about the wedding day look:

1) Did you do your own make-up or get it professionally done? Nope! Did it myself! I'm a make-up junkie, so it was fun for me : )

2) Did you wear extensions for the updo? Nope again! It's all my hair : )

3) Did you tan for your wedding/How did you get your glow? NO TANNING. EVER. Those cancer beds just aren't worth the after effects, girls! I did the Mystic Tan, just like I always do, two days before the ceremony...worked like a charm!

Without any further rambling, here they are!

This pic was for Stephen (he likes golf)...there was a golf cart nearby and I decided to pop in it for a pic, ha! Love how it turned out though!

This is the one that we displayed as a 16 x 20 at our reception. It's also one of Stephen's favs : )

Gotta show off my rock!!

Woohoo!

I was so happy with what our photographer Jeremy Cavness was able to capture that day. I just wanted simple, natural pics that didn't look overly Photoshopped or fake. We had great overcast weather that day, which made for some awesome lighting. Overall, it was a total success!

Have a great weekend, y'all!


Be blessed, lovelies-

A Blonde Wedding: {Salon Pics!}

Hey girls, hey! Today is Thursday, can y’all believe it?! This week FLEW by for me, probably because it was our first week back in the “real world” after our honeymoon and the wedding craziness. I’m really relieved to be back into the swing of things.

So today I’m posting the pics from my bridesmaids and I getting our hair done at the salon on the day of the wedding! These were actually some of my favorite candid girl pics from that morning. We all had a blast just goofing off and getting ‘beautified’. Plus, it was a great way to relax and breathe a sigh of relief before the ceremony and reception craziness that night.

Check out that subtle poof...What? Thought I wouldn't rock a poof on my wedding day?! : )

When I first planned my wedding day “look”, I wanted to wear my hair half up/half down. But unfortunately, the humidity that day was no match for my hair and I ultimately went with the style I chose for my bridal pics! I ended up LOVING it and was so glad I did the updo. It stayed put all night and looked great even the next morning, ha!

I wanted something romantic and undone that looked unintentional and understated. I really think Jennifer, my amazing stylist, was able to capture it with the side swept “knot” that she created.

Undone curls? Check!!

A bride's gotta have her Sonic Vanilla Diet Coke...duh!

My hair guru, Jennifer Smith and me...posing with her finished product!

Voila!



Stephanie, Stephen's youngest sis and one of my bridesmaids, getting poofed for the first time!

Y'all may remember the post I did awhile back about me and my bestie, Sarah. We've known each other since we were born and I couldn't think of anyone more perfect for the Matron of Honor position : ) She is gorgeous inside and out and such a generous and dependable friend. Here's some proof that we've literally grown up together, ha! :



Me and Sarah in our shorter, less stylish days ; )

 

Sarah getting her curls : )

 

My cousin and bridesmaid Melissa (above)...isn't she just beautiful?! Mel actually stayed the night with me and my mom at my apartment the night before the wedding. We've always had a super special bond because we are only a couple of months apart in age. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking about life and boys and babies. LOVE that girl!



Stephen's oldest sister, Sarah is hanging out above : ) She (and Kelly of course) were the two catalysts for us meeting each other! She is nearly 9 months pregnant and STILL managed to make it to the wedding and salon and reception that day...wowzers!! Since we weren't sure if she would have baby Reed before or after the wedding, we featured her as an honorary bridesmaid instead! She will forever be such a special person to me and I consider her one of my best friends now : )

 

Remember Miss Dee!? She's been on ye olden blog before when we did the High Heel Mafia posts. Of course she was also a bridesmaid...like, duh! Couldn't not have my Dee there on the day of the wedding! She's blonde and awesome and lots of fun!



Dee and Melissa hanging out after their hair was finished

 

Group shot!

 

Silly girls : )

All of that awesome hair led to a pretty awesome day! I loved my final hair look and couldn't have asked for a more suiting style for my personality.

Stay tuned tomorrow for....more wedding pics! Surprise! Betcha didn't see that coming, haha! Sorry y'all, I know you're probably sick of these, but I know I'll want these posts to look back on one day : )

Be blessed, lovelies-

Gettin' In the Groove

Pic taken last week in Charleston on our honeymoon!

Although we had a lot of fun planning this wedding and honeymoon (probably more so the honeymoon), both Stephen and I were SO relieved and happy to return home and just start our married life. We’ve been moving the final items from my apartment to his house over the past few days and are finally finished…whew! After this past weekend, we both agreed that we’re not moving again for at least 35 years.

And MY LORD…I did not realize how much stuff I owned until we started packing it up and moving it out. I was honestly ashamed at how many clothes and shoes and handbags I had. Poor Stephen sacrificed the better portion of our walk-in closet in the master bedroom for my mess of clothing. (I should mention that Wardrobe de Leslie is also filling up two-thirds of the guest bedroom closet and linen closet…whoops!

I’m thinking of having a blog sale to free up some of our closet space, but I’ve never tried that before…have any of y’all? Thoughts?

We’ve gotten our house in some semblance of order and I actually had a chance to do some fall decorating! I’m such a shameless seasonal decorator and Stephen is so sweet to just stand by and grin while I hot glue and stage our house within an inch of its life.

Oh yeah, and we’re enjoying being the cheesy, mushy gushy newlyweds. Lots of PDA and Facebook picture posting and whatnot. We’ve also been leaving each other little love notes around the house : ) I won’t post any of those on here because I love y’all and certainly don’t want to induce vomiting.

We have yet to cook a meal as a husband and wife, but I think we may tackle that tonight. Pork tenderloin and roasted asparagus, anyone?

We plan to go on our first “back from the honeymoon” date this weekend too! We’re heading to our old stomping grounds, Abuelo’s on Saturday for chips and queso and sangria…woohoo! Because if there’s one thing my hips and backside need after a food-filled honeymoon in Charleston, it’s more fried food.

We actually decided before we got married that we would do at least one special date night per week, just so we always remember to keep the romance alive. I think more people should “date” their significant other (married or not), ya know? It’s fun to get gussied up and look smokin’ hot for each other. And besides, that can lead to some very fun post-date activities ; )

(My southern momma is probably reading this and blushing.)

We got so many gifts. I mean a crazy, ridiculous, awesome amount of quality gifts. Problem is, we have nowhere to put some of the items we received. We got a panini press from Williams Sonoma that was great, but unfortunately, it’s also the size of a small refrigerator. And towels…OH MY at the towels. That’s more than ok though, you can never have too many towels.

We’ve already been asked by several peeps when we’re going to start a family.

No, I’m not kidding.

Unless the good Lord has other plans for us, we’re going to take a couple of years (maybe more) and just be a three person family, enjoying the perks of not being responsible for another human being’s life for a while, (I say three person family because we include our German Shepherd, Ari as the third member.)

We want to take a couple of years to do married-with-no-children activities like travelling spontaneously and sleeping 8 hours per night and whatnot. Besides, I’m terrible with toddlers. Awful. I have the patience of an arena bull and shudder when I watch poor moms deal with their screaming three year olds in Target. I know it’s par for the course, but bless my soul, I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a mom right now.

HOWEVER, I should also say that our new little nephew Lucas has REALLY given me baby fever. He’s got the best disposition of any kiddo I’ve ever been around and he just smiles and coos and kind of makes you melt. And watching Stephen carry him around when they bring him over makes my heart so full. Kelsi and Greg, if you’re reading this, we will happily babysit any time y’all would like to bring him over : )

So in summary, we’ll see what happens in the baby department : ) Maybe a couple of years, maybe not. But probably a couple of years.

I digress.

Know what makes me so happy though? Seeing older couples in restaurants or on park benches holding hands. So terribly excited to grow old with this man, my husband.

That word is awesome. Husband.

Ok, tomorrow I'll show pics of me and my girls getting ready at the bridal salon on the day of the wedding! Definitely some fun, candid shots in that bunch of pics! Here's a sneak preview:

My adorable hair stylist Jennifer creating my wedding day 'do!

Be blessed, lovelies-

A Blonde Wedding: {Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner}

I'm so excited to finally get to share pics from the wedding with y'all! I decided to start with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner pics and just go chronologically throughout the whole weekend, then on to the honeymoon...makes sense, I guess : )

My fabulous SIL Sarah was gracious enough to take pics of our rehearsal, so these come courtesy of her!

First, we have to talk fashion...I was in LOVE with my rehearsal dinner outfit! The dress is by Judith March and it's called the Keyhole Versatile Dress. I love the Judith March keyhole dresses because they allow you to change the collars out to create entirely new looks with the same dress. I wasn't crazy about the bright red collar that came with it, so I chose this one instead, the Stripes for Santana collar! The shoes are by Jessica Simpson, which I got on sale at Dillard's! The earrings are from Francesca's Collections.

We were married at Central United Methodist Church in Rogers (above) by our awesome Senior Pastor, Carness Vaughan. Pastor Carness has been so wonderful throughout the entire wedding planning process and was also our mentor and counselor throughout our marriage prep classes at church. I was so happy that he was available to marry us on the date we selected!

Saying our pretend vows

We're married! Welp, at least PRACTICING to be married, haha

Here's a shot of Ava the flower girl (our niece) and Cooper the ring bearer (my friend Rhyanne's little boy) as they practiced their walk. Things didn't exactly pan out during the actual ceremony with these kiddos, but they definitely worked it during rehearsal, haha!

Above is Stephanie, Stephen's youngest sister and my other new SIL, holding Ava and Lucas, our new little nephew. He is just the sweetest, best natured baby and definitely makes me excited for the day when we have our own little bambinos : )

After the rehearsal, we drove to Copeland's, site of the rehearsal dinner. We chose this place because the food is amazing and it was also where Stephen and I had our first date : )

This is my brother's sweet girlfriend Lauren, holding Cooper our ring bearer. She is so pretty and sweet and I think Cooper thought so, too! Haha! He seriously is just the cutest little kid...gaw!

So that's all for today! I'm going to try to space out these wedding pic days so that y'all don't get tired of all the wedded bliss : ) Coming up Thursday, we're heading to the salon! Pics of myself and the bridesmaids getting ready on the day of the wedding...fun times!

Be blessed, lovelies-

I'm Baaaaack...and Married!

Well y'all, I'm a married lady now! Woot woot!

I'm L-O-V-I-N-G married life so far and have never felt so happy in my life...fo' realz, girls, this whole husband/wife thing is great! I get to go to bed and wake up with my best friend....what could be better than that?

We had the most perfect wedding day and reception and the honeymoon, OH MY WORD Y'ALL...bliss.

I really need to thank all of you girls both here and in Twitter world for your support and prayers on the wedding day. The outpouring of encouragement from the blog community never ceases to amaze me.

Of course since it has only been a little over a week since our wedding day, we don't have our professional pics ready yet, but I'll be posting shots from the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, as well as some candid shots of my bridesmaids and I getting ready the day of the wedding....so fun!

Oh and my bridal pics....those are coming up Friday : )

I'm really trying like the dickens to get through my email inbox, but it's slow going. So if you sent me an email during the past two weeks and haven't gotten a response, rest assured that I haven't missed you, just haven't gotten a chance to reply yet.

I'm also taking a break from e.Styles for a while, while we adjust to married life. I'm taking the next couple of months and just enjoying the evenings with my new hubby instead of pounding away on the computer keyboard for hours. I love doing e.Styling, but it's time to take a break and concentrate on this new season of life right now. I know y'all understand! I'll still be doing in-person styling here in Fayetteville, but the e. stuff was just taking up so much time at night that I felt like I really needed to unplug from that for a while.

Ah, so much to tell y'all about! Stay tuned and bear with me this week as I nudge back into the blogging world, girls! Again, thanks for the well-wishes and oodles of congrats that you all sent us - much, MUCH love!

Be blessed, lovelies-

Last Random Post Before I'm a Married Lady

Welp, girls...this is the last random post on a Blonde Ambition before I become a married lady on Saturday...woah, Nelly! I have a feeling the randomness is only gonna get better though ; )

Actually, I have a feeling that with this new chapter in my life will come many good blog posts. Experiences become richer as we get older, new memories are made and new people are introduced. I really do think this is just the beginning for this little blog : )

1. Enough of that sappiness, let's talk about how AMAZING it has been to be off work this week. Lordy be, it's been great, y'all! I really don't know how people work the week before their weddings. I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to focus on anything other than wedding stuff. A week of vacation time well spent, if you ask me.

2. Got a new dress yesterday at Francesca's at our local Promenade for the honeymoon...see below! It's a little bit boobalicious, but I feel like that's ok because:

a) I'm 26 and might as well show off the girls while gravity is still in my favor

b) It's my honeymoon and my honey will appreciate the, ahem, view ; )

3. Most of my family got in for the wedding last night and that makes me SO happy to get to see them for a few days before Saturday.

4. Speaking of weddings, I was looking at celeb wedding pics online and Kim Kardashian's popped up. I really don't love her headpiece that she wore...didn't really go with the dress...kind of Princess Jasmine meets Zsa Zsa Gabor..too much with the veil...thoughts??

5. I've had a Pumpkin Spice Latte every single day since the day they came out. Yes, I get the fat free milk, but ALWAYS add back the whipped cream. I feel in some messed up way, the skim milk balances out the 1,000,000,000 calories in the whipped cream, making this a completely acceptable, nutritious and low-calorie treat.  Please don't debunk my theory.

6. Somehow, through all the PSL's, I've still managed to maintain my wedding goal weight.

7. I'm currently obsessed with Vera Wang's new fragrance, Lovestruck. Lightly floral with a musky undertone, it's just beautiful.

8. I'm also obsessed with Make-Up Forever's new Smoky Lash mascara, below. It's sold at Sephora...go getcha some, chicas!

9. The high here today is 66 degrees! That is darn near fall weather! OH MY, could autumn finally have arrived???

10. Please lord, yes.

Be blessed, lovelies-