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January 2017

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Okay, Ladies! Whether you are celebrating Valentine’s Day this year with your leading man or your favorite gal pals, it’s time to find that perfect eye-catching outfit!

To help with this year’s shopping, I’ve done a round up of some of my favorite flirty looks that are sure to turn heads! Happy Shopping!

Okay my sweet bakers, this one’s for you!

Cakes are my absolute favorite dessert to bake and decorate. Not only are they delicious, but they can be true works of art depending on how you design and display them. I am a true believer that presentation is key, so the best way to top off any perfectly baked cake, or any dessert really, is with a gorgeous stand!

Take a look and shop some of our favorite cake stands on the market right now!

Happy Wedding Wednesday! With the new year in full swing, many brides are kicking the planning process into high gear for their summer and fall weddings and making all those final big decisions. Besides the budget and guest list, one of the first decisions that needs to be made is the wedding venue!

The venue will determine the date based on their availability and then will help all those other wedding day details (style, formality, color, decor) fall into place! So what should you look at and think about as you are touring all those venues trying to pick the perfect place?! Here is the beginner’s guide to help you get started!

Photography by Lane Dittoe

Location

Location, location, location. Consider the distance and the travel costs you and a majority of your guests will have to get to the venue. Is there a certain city that is meaningful to you and your fiance? What will the weather look like in that particular location in your desired wedding month?

Style

You should have a general idea of the style, theme, and tone of your wedding before your reserve your venue. If you know you want a modern glam wedding, you may want to look into a sleek contemporary hotel ballroom or museum rather than a renovated barn. If you want a nautical-themed wedding, a harbor will better match your style than a wedding mill. We personally are going for a mountain elegant theme, so we chose a lodge styled venue at a ski resort.

Color

If you have a certain theme, style, or color palette in mind, make sure the coloring of the venue reflects or enhances your theme. They don’t have to match exactly, but you don’t want the walls, curtains, carpets, etc. to conflict with your style. For example, dated curtains can really clash with a modern and contemporary vibe.

Rosewood Mansion | Photography by f8 Studio

Size

Create a general guest list before your venue search to ensure the room is large enough to accommodate the number of people on your guest list. You don’t want to book a venue that only holds 75 for a seated dinner when you have 200 on your guest list, and you also don’t want a venue that holds 400 when you only want to invite 75 because it will look empty!

Don’t forget to factor in space for the dance floor, bars, food stations, or buffet tables if these are elements you will be incorporating into your wedding. Often times, (and this is the situation in our case actually) if your guest list is close to the max capacity of the venue, you have to do a seated dinner because there is not enough space for buffet tables or stations. So just keep that in mind as well if the food service presentation is important to you.

Aria in Minneapolis, Minnesota | Photo courtesy of Aria

Designated Areas

Ask the venue for a typical layout of the space for weddings. There should be logical places for the bars, tables, food, dancing, DJ/band etc. so the space doesn’t feel cluttered. Also, avoid venues with odd-shaped rooms so that it doesn’t mess with the flow of the wedding.

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous New Year’s Eve with your friends and family!

New Year’s Eve is my favorite party of the year, as Landon and I host our annual NYE Fondue Dinner Party! This year was a bit trickier now that we are in a smaller apartment, but if you checked out our Instagram story, you saw how we transformed our 700sf apartment and hosted a formal sit down dinner party for 20. (Yes, that did involve removing all furniture from our house and either cramming it in our closet or storing it in the hallway- sorry neighbors!) Logistical issues aside, this was absolutely our most successful fondue party yet, filled with delicious food, wonderful company, and lots of love and laughter.

Now, I could not be more thrilled that 2017 is here because this is the year that we get married!!! We are officially on the 5 month countdown, and I have no doubt that this will be the best year of our life!

But of course, we can’t forget to thank 2016 for all the incredible memories and times we had! Starting with our engagement (YAYAY!) and of course all the success with the blog and the fabulous parties that we were able to throw.

Though it’s super hard to narrow down, I wanted to highlight some of the top moments and posts from 2016 (in chronological order)!

  1. Kate Spade Valentine’s Day Party and Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

We started off the year with two incredible styled shoots. Our Valentine’s Day brunch with Kate Spade that I got to enjoy with fiance and future in-laws and our Alice in Wonderland Tea Party with Holiday Warehouse. Both shoots helped start the year off with a bang and allowed us to work with a team of incredible people.

2. IBB Design Collaboration

One of my favorite teams to collaborate with this year was IBB Design. If you haven’t checked out their store or their magazine, definitely do so! I had the great honor of being published in both their summer edition about How to Host a Summer Soiree and winter edition about How to Host a NYE Dinner Party this year.

The Everyday Hostess and IBB at Home Summer Soiree

3. We Got engaged!

The absolute highlight of this past year, and my entire life, was our trip to Nashville in June where Landon proposed! It was the most incredible day of my life and I am so beyond honored to get to spend the rest of my life with him. Check out the full proposal story here!

4. Wedding Wednesday Series

With the start of our wedding planning journey, we started a Wedding Wednesday Series to document the process and everything that we are learning along the way!

5. Geode Styled Shoot in BONT

In September, we collaborated with a showstopping team on a Geode Styled Wedding Shoot at the Dallas Quarry, which was featured in Brides of North Texas Magazine (BONT)! This was my first time being featured in BONT, and needless to say I am still in shock!

6. Fall Inspired Brunch

One of my best “friendors” Lindsay of Lindsay Davenport Photography asked me to collaborate with her and style a Fall Inspired Brunch before the birth of her new baby boy! We had so much fun designing and planning this brunch for her 2016 wedding couples and the end result still has me seeing hearts! 

7. LikeToKnowIt!

At the end of November, we got accepted to LikeToKnowIt! Blog wise (that does not include getting engaged!), this is 100% the highlight of my year! Being accepted into this program has been one of my main goals since starting our blog in 2015. We can now share easily shoppable links to all of our favorite products and party decor with you on the blog, and if you sign up for LikeToKnowIt, you will receive your favorite products directly to your inbox when you like our posts on Instagram! 

8. Christmas Winter Wonderland 

To cap the year off, and for the second year in a row, I partnered with Holiday Warehouse to share our tips and tricks for Decorating the Perfect Christmas Tree. This is always one of my favorite shoots and posts of the year because we get to spend hours at Holiday Warehouse dreaming and looking at all of their gorgeous Christmas decor and then styling our own tree at home! Plus the post was also featured on WFAA!  

Most importantly, we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for following us and helping us to make our dream a reality. We absolutely love what we do and cannot wait for another spectacular year!

Happy New Year!