Wedding Inspiration: Food (Pt. 1)--Nontraditional Cakes

When Daniel and I decided to attempt this $2,000 wedding, we weren't sure how we'd go about feeding our guests.  We knew we'd host an afternoon wedding to avoid a full sit-down meal, but that was about it.  Every time I go to research wedding snacks, I get distracted by pretty desserts.  Does anyone else think a fall wedding and pies just go hand in hand?  I'm daydreaming of a pretty little pie bar with an assortment of fruit and fall flavors--apple, blueberry, cherry, pecan, pumpkin....mmm.  And there is no shortage of inspiration for serving pie out there, that's for sure.  Here are a few ideas I like:

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Luckily, I've somehow managed to surround myself with people who love baking for pleasure.  One of my bridesmaids, Lizz, is quite the baker.  I also have aspirations of baking the perfect pretty little pie before the wedding rolls around.  As of now, it looks like the whole idea coming to fruition will be a team effort--but that's the best kind of effort!  I so appreciate my loved ones stepping up to make this whole vision work--it's incredible to have such supportive people in my life. 

Aside from pie, we plan to have at least one cake option (we haven't discussed a groom's cake much yet, but we'll get there).  My dad's girlfriend made the most delicious lemon cheesecake over the holidays.  Daniel and I both tried it and knew immediately we wanted it for our wedding.  It'll be a simple, beautiful white cake.  I'm toying with the idea of adding a few flowers for character.  I loooove this one:

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I'm so excited to do some baking with the people I love and to look back on my wedding as a time I felt really blessed by their help and support.  Hooray for community!

Planning Progress: Engagement Photos

Three-ish weeks ago, Daniel and I journeyed to Springfield, Missouri for a very special photo session, which Daniel gifted to me for Valentine's Day because he knew how obsessed I was with this particular photographer's work.  We were both excited and a little anxious--we've had our pictures taken together many times before, but never by someone we had never met.  However, I felt like I already knew Kinsey from reading her blog every day, but I couldn't decide if that made it more or less weird, knowing what she did the day before without her knowing anything about us, haha.  

The day ended up being SO MUCH FUN!  Kinsey is incredibly sweet and went so out of her way to make sure we got every type of location I mentioned liking throughout our email correspondence.  And the photos--oh my GOODNESS, the photos! They are even better than Daniel and I were anticipating.  She made us feel super comfortable in our love, so we were able to just laugh and be ourselves.  We aren't the most PDA-showing couple most of the time, but she captured the ease and goofiness of our relationship so beautifully.  Eeek!  

^^ Kinsey Mhire Photography

We laughed a lot at the photos of Penny ^.  She's a dork.

I designed our Save the Dates first thing Monday morning so I could get them sent off to the printer--we should have them by the end of the week!  

These photos will not only be a huge part of our engagement/wedding planning process, but will make the walls in our home very happy for many years to come.  We'll be able to look at them every day and remember this crazy, joyful season of our young lives..  When Daniel saw one of our favorites of us sitting by the fire, he said something like, "This is the kind of photo our kids will see one day and say, 'Whoa, mom and dad used to look like that?'"  :) That was very sweet of him.  

Memphis Recap

Daniel and I had the best time in Memphis this weekend!  We spent Saturday exploring opening day of the Farmer's Market, a few thrift stores, Martin Luther King Jr's memorial and Sun Studio.  Saturday night we ate dinner on the 33rd floor of a high rise and then danced for hours at the Memphis Zoo--so much fun!

When we got back into town last night, we were so excited to find a very special CD in my mailbox--our engagement photos by the incredibly talented Kinsey Mhire!  I'll definitely be sharing a few of our favorites for our wedding progress post this week.  They turned out even better than I was expecting (and I had high hopes--Kinsey is phenomenal), and we couldn't be more pleased.  We sat and looked through them (maybe like ten times...) together last night and felt so blessed to have one another.  Afterward we enjoyed a long walk at Lake Fayetteville.  The weather was perfect and it was nice to be out of the car and in the fresh air.  We also stumbled upon a jackpot of something we were hoping to use for our wedding--I'll share on that later!

Happy Monday, lovelies!

Weekend Trip and Wedding Workout

Happy Friday, folks!

I'm off to Memphis in a couple of hours for Daniel's last BYX formal.  I love road-tripping with Daniel--we really enjoy exploring new cities together.  Let me know if you have any suggestions for fun things to do or see while we're there!


I'll leave you with a Fitsugar video I've really been enjoying the past week.  Who doesn't love a good ten minutes of yoga?

Wedding Inspiration: The Groom and His Men

As previously mentioned, our wedding will not be a black tie affair.  We haven't 100% decided on what Daniel will wear but we have a general look we really like.  We want him to wear something similar but just different enough from the men standing beside him, so we're considering adding a jacket or vest onto whatever it is they're wearing.  I really love the following grooms' looks:

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As for the groomsmen--Daniel knew immediately he wanted to throw in some awesome patterns through ties.  We talked skinny and bow ties, and we're VERY excited to share what they're going to end up wearing at a later date.  We get to do some designing--eek!  We've also gone back and forth on suspenders,  and I'm not sure we're positive either way just yet.  Most likely no suspenders, as of now.  We have settled on the shirts--they're in the mail on their way to Daniel's house right now!  He purchased them at Gap online through the Pure Charity Rewards network--yay! Here are a few photos of looks we like:

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Hope everyone is surviving this unusually chilly weather!  We have some exciting stuff coming your way in terms of our fundraiser, and I'm working on a few fun crafts to share.  Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Planning Progress: The Band

It's a rainy Tuesday here in NWA--the kind of day I'd much rather spend in bed with a book or at a local coffee shop listening to some good music.  Since I moved here last year, I've had several opportunities to do both, but the former usually just results in sleep.  Listening to good music at a coffee shop (or elsewhere), though, has been a real treat--thanks in large part to one particular local band:

^^Stolen from their Facebook page--check it out!

This band has done some crazy awesome stuff lately.  Even though Daniel knows a couple of them fairly well, I was still pretty anxious about asking them to play our wedding.  I thought the whole idea would be too perfect or something--we really didn't have anyone else in mind.  When we met with Matt and he acted super pumped about the whole idea, we got even more excited.  These people are not only wonderful musicians, but incredibly level-headed and kind-hearted as well. Eeek!

I could rave about how fantastic this band is, but I'll let their music speak for itself.  Snag their album for just $5--I promise you it's worth it.  It'll be super refreshing, especially on this dreary day.

Download album HERE.

Daniel and I could not be more thrilled to have Little Chief playing our wedding ceremony and first dance.  Last Monday I shared one of the songs they'll play--I can't wait to hear their take on it!

Serving and Getting Served

Hello, everyone! I apologize for my absence the past few days--I came down with something like the flu and never ventured off anywhere to get internet.  I had all of these cutesy Easter "What We Wore" posts in mind for Daniel and me (he was SO excited, I'm sure), because we had a three-part Easter planned.  

Friday night our church held a Good Friday service that I heard wonderful things about--I left work sick around lunchtime and couldn't pull myself out of bed. Daniel went by himself and said it was awesome. I was pretty upset.  I told him, "I'm going to wake up better tomorrow," and I was determined to do so.  

I got up Saturday telling myself I felt wonderful.  We were scheduled to serve in the preschool for the 4:30 service, and I didn't want to miss that.  Two year olds in Easter dresses and tuxes =  the best day ever.  My dad and brother were also headed to Fay to join Daniel and me for the 6 o'clock service.  Long, gross story short, I wasn't able to keep any food down, nor make myself eat anything.  After getting sick several times and blowing my nose three times that, I took a shower and got ready for church.

The preschoolers kept my attention away from how I was feeling, but when my nose started running down my face uncontrollably in the middle of the service, I admitted my defeat.  I didn't feel great. Still, I rushed to clean myself up in the church bathroom afterward so I could join my family for dinner.  In the car on the way there, I thought I might pass out.  I was starting to get chills and feel dizzy.  Daniel and I stopped by the restaurant and ended up leaving after two minutes so I could lie down. 

Daniel took care of me Saturday night as I thought I was going to freeze to death from my fever.  Such a weird feeling.  We were scheduled to serve again for two services Sunday morning, but I was still feeling straight up yucky, so he went without me.  It felt extremely strange to lie in bed all through Easter Sunday. I'm thankful I was able to attend the Saturday evening service, but I still felt weird not being there on THE DAY.  I found myself thinking, "But this wasn't the plan!" over and over out of frustration.

I started praying I'd still be able to focus on the whole point of Easter without being at church and doing what Christians do on Easter Sunday.  The Lord answered me quickly with a, "How often do you just rest in Me and My Resurrection?"  I realized I had planned what I thought was the right way to celebrate this holiday--by packing it full of good stuff without leaving a whole lot of room to meditate on the Lord and His perfect plan for His Son and for us.  Not saying we can't or won't be thankful for the cross and empty tomb while doing other things and celebrating with people, I just think I may have been missing how overwhelming they are with my weekend full of plans.  The whole point is, "HE IS RISEN!" It's not, "Jordan hangs out with little kids and takes her family to church and takes pictures of herself and her fiance in cute clothes." Nothing humbles me more and reminds me I'm only human than being sick and unable to do what I had planned.

I wasn't completely alone, though.  Like I said, Daniel took great care of me. He came back over Sunday afternoon with chicken noodle soup, a can of Sprite, and "Wreck It Ralph."  

Keeper, for sure.

Easter meal

Such a cute movie!

Daniel bought this for us a few nights ago.  It'll help us have a lot of cheap dates in the near future! We attempted to start on "List the themes for parties you'd like to throw," but I was kind of out of it and ended up falling asleep.

More wedding planning posts to come this week!