Saving the bouquet

Toss the bouquet?

Since Drew and I got married in 2010, my wedding bouquet has been hanging in a bag "drying" at my parent's house. I didn't know what to do with it. I absolutely loved my bouquet. 

So it was sad that it was just sitting in a bag. Then one day I was at my best friend Salena's house, and saw what she did with her bouquet from 2011. Her bouquet was in a jar from her grandmothers house sitting in her bedroom. I loved the idea. It was simple, contained, and displayed. So...I stole her idea. 

2 years later. 

I didn't have a jar from my grandmother's house, so instead I opted for a jar from Michael's

I filled the jar with all the wonderful flowers from the best day of my life. I was left with the ribbon which held my great-grandmothers pin on our wedding day, and was featured on all of my bridesmaid's bouquet. So I used it to decorate the top of the jar. 

Now I have a wonderful keepsake of my wedding bouquet that is displayed in our home. What did you do to save your flowers from that special day?

Cotton Anniversary

As many of my readers know, yesterday was Drew and I's second anniversary. I promise after today you only have to wait 365 days to hear me talk about it again. :)
Something I take very seriously in the anniversary department is the whole tradition of what to give according to how many years you have been married. One year is paper, but two years is cotton.
Awhile ago I went searching on the internet for cotton gifts for my man. Clothes, sheets, and robes were all suggestions, but none of them felt like the right fit. I was having a really hard time. Little did I know so was Drew.
I finally settled on a trio of embroidered hankies from Embroidery by Melissa on Etsy.
Not that Drew uses a hanky right, but in the future he might. Plus I felt they were thoughtful and I was able to express what I wanted from the writing.
Drew, on the other hand was much more creative. He also went the Etsy route. Check out this beautiful wreath made out of cotton burs. The lady from Georgia who made this (I will report back with her Etsy store) goes out after they finish harvesting the cotton and collects these. It is so pretty and looks great in our dining room.
Though it was hard to try to think out of the box, I think we both did good!
Next year is leather! Better get to work on it!

Two Years Later

Today is Drew and I's second wedding anniversary! Two years seems crazy! Here's to 50 more! Love you!

My Best Friend's Wedding

As I sit here, I've just put the final touches on my Matron of Honor (makes me sound old) Speech for the Kilburn-Hurter wedding tomorrow evening. You see, my best friend Salena is getting married tomorrow. :)



Salena and I have know each other for 15 years and have been best friends for 14 of that. I can't believe it has really been that long now. It seems like just yesterday. I thought writing my speech would be such a piece of cake (yum, wedding cake can't wait), I thought all the thoughts would immediately come to me, but turns out there was lots of things to say. It was hard to nail down the special moments we've had together, or articulate just how amazing of a person Salena is.

Last night, as we were outside of her house, she gave Drew and I the sweetest 1 year anniversary gift. She made us a scrapbook of all the important invitations and documents from our wedding. There were a few invitations to showers I never got to see until last night. But after we opened it and I had my crying moment, I realized that we are now growing up, getting married, and starting a new chapter of our lives. For some reason last night it felt much different. I mean I know that Drew and I have now been married for a year, but knowing that Salena is getting married very soon (tomorrow!) made me feel much different. It had always been just us, and now we are both soon to be married. It's a beautiful thing, but still touched me in a very sentimental way.

For a long time, I thought I've wanted to include a certain poem in my speech, but as I wrote it, it just didn't seem to fit, so instead I'll bring it to my blog, as I hope sometime in the near future Salena will read. So, here's to you best friend and sister at heart. I am so happy for the love that you have found.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
BY E. E. CUMMINGS
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

We did it!

For the first time.... Mr. and Mrs. Hatmaker! :)


I know that I am way behind on the blogging, but with all that has been going on being faithful to my blog just hasn't been one of them.

But I can findly say that we are married!!! My blog name has super-duper meaning in the last few and right now because there is a lot of love coming from Paris! I mean we are newlyweds, right?

The big day was June 26th, but we of course have been on our honeymoon since then. What a glorious and beautiful day it was! Drew and I have talked a lot about how we did so much planning for so long and then to see it all come true was truly beautiful and amazing.

As a little girl you DREAM of finding your prince and having the most beautiful wedding, and boy do I think I hit the nail right on the head. I can not thank my wonderful parents, my new husband, and all of our friends and family for making it a truly special day and one that I will never forget.

We got married at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort and Spa in Lexington. They are wonderful to work with and will get you whatever you ask for. Drew and I even had a special girl at the rehearsal and reception that would get us anything we wanted. They even platted our food for us and got us drinks from the bar. The setting for the ceremony was a huge, white southern home called, " The Mansion." It was warm outside but I sure wasn't paying any attention. Only thing I was looking for was my handsome groom at the end of the aisle. Don't let him fool you, he shed some tears. :)



It was a magical day and I am looking forward to married life now!