My Wedding: Before the Ceremony

No matter how many weeks, months, or years you've spent planning each and every detail of your wedding, there are so many things that remain out of your control- traffic, weather, other people, etc. I had made a decision early on in my wedding planning that no matter what happened on my wedding day, I would remain calm, happy, and peaceful so that I could enjoy every minute of the day. Yes, I could have stressed out that it was raining the entire day of my wedding with no signs of clearing up, but I just chose to smile and believe that everything happens for a reason. I really felt bad because my entire wedding party was in a state of panic about the rain because I was genuinely not concerned about the rain. I just knew that it was going to clear up. I just felt like everything was going to be perfect.

15 minutes before the ceremony began, I saw this through the window. 

The weather had cleared up, and it was PERFECT. Not only had the rain stopped, but it had dropped the sizzling Florida heat to a more manageable level and cleared all of the footprints from the sand.

Gorgeous, right?

My beautiful bouquet

Closeup of my bouquet

In my family, it's traditional for the bride to carry the family Bible down the aisle along with the bouquet. My grandfather brought this Bible from Jerusalem for my mother, and it's now been passed on to me. I think it's so beautiful, and I can't wait to pass it down to my daughter.

My beautiful bridesmaids, me, and my gorgeous mom!

Let me tell you, this girl- my GORGEOUS cousin Michelle- was my rock the entire week of the wedding. She helped me finish so many last-minute tasks and kept me calm and smiling the whole week! I love her so much, and I wish she didn't live so far away in Canada. Be on the lookout for Michelle's new blog! She's a fashion/beauty/shopping genius, so I'll be sure to post a link as soon as it's up and running :)

My mom helping me with the final touches!

Finally ready to get married!

All of the photography featured above is from the lovely Emily at Emily E Martin Photography. If you're planning a Florida wedding, I cannot recommend her services highly enough. Be sure to check out her website (Ryan and I are the first picture!), blog, and Facebook for more information. I can't wait to share the rest of my wedding day with you all! Let me know what you're interested in seeing- ceremony, reception, and details? 

$100 Ann's Bridal Bargains Gift Certificate Giveaway {closed}

As promised, the Ann's Bridal Bargains giveaway is back! I'm so excited to introduce this company to you all. While they have awesome supplies for weddings, nearly all of their products could easily be used for bridal showers, baby showers, birthdays, and all types of parties! 

 

Hot Pink Dinner Napkins                      Light Sage Dinner Napkins

Some of my favorite products from Ann's Bridal Bargains are their napkins. They have nearly every color and  really cute customization options. While monogram napkins are classic, I really love the "Ever Always" and "Love Never Fails" customization options as well!

Simply Smooth Save the Dates

I think these save the dates are so elegant and classy. Along with a variety of Save the Dates and wedding invitations, Ann's Bridal Bargains also features thank you notes and custom map inserts!

 

Dotted Border Labels                           Flourish Favor Labels

How pretty are these labels? All of the labels from Ann's Bridal Bargains would easily work for any type of party to add a personal touch to favors!

Giveaway

Ann's Bridal Bargains has generously offered to giveaway a $100.00 gift certificate

 to one lucky Ashley Brooke reader! 

Mandatory Entry:

After following Ashley Brooke on GFC, take a look at Ann's Bridal Bargains and let me know your favorite item in a comment. Be sure to include your email address in your comment!

Additional Entries:

+1 Entry: Like Ann's Bridal Bargains on Facebook

+1 Entry: Follow Ann's Bridal Bargains on Twitter

+2 Entries: Add this giveaway to your sidebar

+3 Entries: Write a blog entry about this giveaway

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.
This giveaway will end on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 at 11:59pm

I'm Back!

Hey everyone! So sorry for the prolonged absence, but I was busy getting married and enjoying my honeymoon! Look forward to lots of posts this month, including lots of wedding pictures! I'll leave you with a little sneak peek.

Wedding Wednesday: Skindinavia

I've been having a mini-heart attack every time that I think about my makeup for my upcoming wedding. I have naturally oily skin, and I'm getting married at the beach  in Florida in the middle of July aka the ideal conditions for having your makeup melt off of your face. Every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day, and let's be honest, I'm paying a lot for wedding photography, and I want to look good in my pictures as well! After weeks of trying different products, I am so excited to say that I've found the product that is going to save my wedding AND Carribean honeymoon makeup :) 

Skindinavia's Bridal Makeup Finish is my miracle product. It's an extremely light mist that you wear over your makeup to set the finish and prevent your makeup from fading. It's hypoallergenic, paraben free, and it's tear and moisture resistant! In addition, it helps keep your makeup on throughout heat and humidity, and it keeps your makeup matte for photography!

The bottle says to spray 2-4 times just before applying mascara, but I've been spraying the product two times before I put my makeup on and two times after I put my makeup on. The mist is extremely light and refreshing, and I haven't experienced any breakouts while using this product. 

Skindinavia makes a lot of other finishing sprays for every skin type, but I've fallen in love with the Bridal spray for every day use! It's perfect for my oily skin, and I'm so impressed with how well it keeps my makeup from melting off. Throughout beach trips to Laguna Beach in 95 degree weather, workouts, and last-minute wedding errand marathons, my makeup stays in place all day. Skindinavia also makes the Urban Decay sprays, which are also great, but their Bridal formulation is not available from Urban Decay. 

I'd definitely recommend checking out Skindinavia's website to see all of the different finishing sprays in their line, so that you can find a spray custom-tailored to your skin's needs. I think Skindinavia's sprays are a must for all brides-to-be, and I think they'd be great presents for mothers and bridesmaids as well!

Skindinavia is also having an amazing sale until June 15th. 

You can receive 20% off products and free shipping on orders over $40 with the code SAVE20. 

What are your wedding day makeup essentials?

FTC Disclaimer: This product was sent for review. I am not affiliated with Skindinavia, and my review expresses my honest and genuine opinion.

Giveaway! Wedding Wednesday: Print Your Party! {closed}

I am thrilled to be using Print Your Party's products in my wedding this July. I had been searching for hours on Etsy to find the cutest printable place cards in my wedding's colors, and Print Your Party of course had the perfect match and so many other adorable things!

Here is the picture of the place cards I bought from the amazing Andrea at Print Your Party.

So cute, right? My custom color version is currently at Kinko's, but I'll show you all a picture of the completed place and escort cards as soon as they're finished!

In addition to the place cards, I'm pretty sure I'm going to purchase these additional items for my wedding. 

Yep, I'm addicted to printables!

I'm going to use these GORGEOUS labels in our colors for our thank you notes!

These tags would be perfect for putting on little bags of candy to put in our welcome bags!

I'd love to have these customized for our candy bar!

...and my personal favorite, the Sparkler Holders! We're planning on exiting the recption with sparklers, so I think these will be just the cutest addition to our wedding!

I am so pleased with my purchase, and Andrea was a dream to work with. My wedding coordinator has insisted on having color-coded place cards for the wedding, and Andrea made it so easy to get the exact colors I needed in an easy to use format. I can't wait to purchase more items from her store!

Also, make sure you follow Print Your Party on Facebook because Andrea frequently releases adorable  FREE printables to her Facebook fans!

And now on to the fun part. 

Andrea from Print Your Party has generously offered one of the Ashley Brooke 's readers a 

A $50 store credit to Print Your Party!

This prize is seriously amazing, so make sure to get as many entries as you can!

This giveaway is open to US and International readers!

Required for Entry:

Make sure you're a GFC follower of Ashley Brooke, and head on over to Print Your Party's Facebook page and click the "Like" button. Please leave a comment with your name, FB name, and an email address that I can contact you at if you win!

*If you don't have a Facebook account, you can follow PYP on Twitter*

Additional Entries:

+1 Entry Head on over to Print Your Party's Etsy shop and

 let me know what you'd buy with your $50 store credit.

+ 1 Entry: Follow Print Your Party on Twitter (please leave your username)

+1 Entry: Heart Print Your Party's Etsy shop (please leave username)

+1 Entry: Post this contest on your Facebook wall or tweet about it with a link to the page (please leave url)

+2 entries: Post about this giveaway in your sidebar (please leave url)

+3 entries: Write a blog post about this giveaway (please leave url)

That's a total of 10 possible entries!

Please leave each entry in a separate comment. Thanks!

This giveaway will end on Monday, June 6th at 11:59pm

You're going to love Print Your Party! Please check out Andrea's Facebook, Twitter, Website & Etsy Shop!

Disclaimer: I paid for the place cards with my own money, and I plan on purchasing more items from PYP with my own money. I am not affiliated with PYP, and I am not receiving compensation for this review. Andrea from PYP generously offered to sponsor this giveaway. As always, my opinions are 100% honest and genuine.

Giveaway! Wedding Wednesday: Green Apple Paperie {closed}

With less than two months until my wedding, I am in full-on, obsessive wedding planning mode! All of the major things are finished, so right now I'm focusing on the little details- table numbers, place cards, favors, etc.

I'm SO excited to show you all my adorable customized water bottles for our Welcome Bag favors! We're having our wedding in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, so we're filling each family's welcome bag with beach essentials. Thanks to the wonderful Katie at Green Apple Paperie, these water bottles were so easy to finish.

How cute are they? These water bottle labels can be customized in different patterns and colors for your wedding or party.

The PDF file prints five labels to a page. I used full-page mailing labels to print the design on, then I simply cut the strips apart and adhered them to generic water bottles. So easy.

Close-up of my labels. I'm a little obsessed.

Katie was so easy to work with, and I am thrilled with the finished product. Here's a list of the other things that I plan on buying from Green Apple Paperie for my wedding!

I'm going to order these super cute menus in bright pink!

Signs for my Candy Bar!

...and custom labels for the candy!

Katie from the Green Apple Paperie has graciously offered all of my followers a chance to win a 

$20 gift certificate to Green Apple Paperie!

Requirements:

 Leave me a comment with your email address letting me know you follow my blog and liked Green Apple Paperie's Facebook Fan Page! If you don't have a Facebook, then head over to Green Apple Paperie's shop and  let me know which items you'd spend your $20.00 gift certificate on if you won!

For additional entries:

+1 entry Head over to Green Apple Paperie's shop and

 let me know which items you'd spend your $20.00 gift certificate on if you won!

+1 entry: Follow Green Apple Paperie's Blog

+1 entry: Tweet about this giveaway (please provide link)

+1 entry: Heart Green Apple Paperie's shop on Etsy

+2 entries: Post this giveaway on your sidebar

+3 entries: Write a blog post about this giveaway (please provide link)

That's a total of ten possible entries!

This giveaway will end on Monday, May 30th at 11:59pm and is open internationally!

Good luck, and I know you're going to love Green Apple Paperie!

My Bridal Shower!

I just got back to beautiful southern California after a little over a week in Florida. I am so happy that I was able to spend time with my friends and family in Orlando, and I can't wait to go back in June for the wedding!

While I was in Orlando, my beautiful mother and my best friend Stephanie threw me an AMAZING bridal shower! It was so much fun to get together with my friends and family, and the awesome food and presents didn't hurt either :)

My gorgeous cousin Michelle, Randi, Me, Stephanie, and my future sister-in-law Megan!

My beautiful mom, me, and my future mother-in-law! 

Brianna, Megan, me, Mrs. Nicholas, and Brooke

I have always wanted a sister, and I'm so excited that after July 9th, I'll have three! Brooke, Brianna, and Megan are the most amazing girls. They're all extremely smart, funny, and gorgeous! I can't wait to become part of their family!

My aunt made the most incredible food! Chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, fruit bouquets, chocolate-covered strawberries, brownies, cheesecake, and so much more!

In addition to the food and wonderful company, there were SO many presents! I am so blessed to have such a supportive and generous group of family and friends.

The presents were all wrapped in adorable bags and wrapping paper. Everything was so pretty that I didn't want to unwrap any of it, and I'll admit that I saved all the bags and ribbon. Way too cute to throw away!

Me and my future mother-in-law!

Michelle, Randi, me, Stephanie, and Megan!

Can we talk about how gorgeous my friends and bridesmaids are? I seriously have to step up my game every time we hang out because they're all drop dead gorgeous! Michelle, Stephanie, Megan, and Chelsea have been the most supportive and fun bridesmaids a bride could ask for! I was so sad that Chelsea couldn't make it to the shower, but I know that all of us will have such a great time planning the rest of the wedding and at the bachelorette party!

Drop dead gorgeous girls + me. Michelle, Randi, me, and the future Miss Florida Stephanie Ziajka!

I am so happy that I got to share the day with my favorite people in the world. My bridal shower was definitely a day that I won't ever forget!

I've been getting so many questions about my wedding, so I'll be starting a Wedding Wednesday feature on my blog this week! I'm so excited to show you all my save the dates and invitations this week from the lovely Laura at By Invitation Only. Also, make sure to enter my giveaway! It ends tomorrow night, and I can't wait to announce the winner!