How I Asked my Bridal Party

Posted in Beauty by meganandeggs

When Chris asked me to marry him this past spring people started me asking me all sorts of questions. They wanted to know what colors we were going to have, when was the wedding, did we have a theme? There was literally so many questions, from so many people, & I had no answers for anyone. Honestly the only thing I did know, what who I wanted to stand next to me on my big day.

I am lucky enough to have a group of girlfriends that I have been friends with since we were kids. As we get older & get our own lives, we have grown closer & our friendships have gotten stronger. Our relationships have changed a lot since we were 14, they’ve even changed a lot since we were 23, but these girls are a part of me in such a big way, I couldn’t imagine them not standing next to me.

I grew up with my sister & cousin being two of my closest friends, so when I moved to California & Chris’s younger sisters & I hit it off right away, I was so happy. I knew I needed to do something special to ask these ladies to be a part of our wedding.

A friend of ours makes amazing jewelry. (You may have seen some of her work on my Instagram here, here, & here.) So when I remembered that she has an amazing knot ring, The Jessica, I thought it would be the perfect gift to ask the girls to help me tie the knot… get it… tie the knot…

And in the theme of our wine wedding (yes, we have a theme I guess) my mom found these adorable novelty wine glasses for each of the bridesmaids.

Since my sister was out here last month, I took advantage of our time together to ask her to be my maid of honor, & a week later, I asked Chris’s sisters to be bridesmaids. I knew I wanted to ask our sisters before anyone else but I had no idea how I was going to ask my cousin & girlfriend’s from back home to be in my wedding.

Being that my mom has always had a very close relationship with my friends, she invited them over to her house last week for a Sunday dinner where her & my maid of honor had the gifts all prepared for everyone. It was great because even though I wasn’t able to be there, they were all able to be together & my mom had a huge part in being the one to ask each of them for me.

Asking your girls to be part of your big day is a huge task for a bride because you are asking them a huge favor. I wanted my gifts to not only show part of me, but also be something that would be special to each & every one of them also. These rings were the perfect gift for my bridesmaids & Annie did such an amazing job on them. I am so thankful.

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23Aug2016

Wedding Planning for Dummies

Posted in Updates by meganandeggs

As soon as I got engaged people started asking me: how’s the wedding planning process going? Well friends… it’s going. And it probably will continue to be “going” for the next 18 months! Every day I think of (or someone reminds me of) something else I need to do. Someone offers a tip I need to remember, or if I am lucky, gives me a vendor that they have had an amazing experience with.

It’s a lot to handle ladies! wpd-engagement-3

But honestly, there are so many resources out there to help you stay updated & get ideas from, fingers crossed I won’t forget anything.
I have been doing everything I can to take in advise & ideas for my big day, & all of the events leading up to it. There is wedding dress shopping, asking my bridesmaids & maid of honor to be in the wedding, engagement photos, my shower, & of coarse… my bachelorette. And this type A personality isn’t about to let anyone else plan that celebration.

I put together a little list of my favorite resources I’ve been using so far in my wedding planning process below. 18 months is a long time off so I am sure along the way I will find even more. What are your favorite resources from planning your wedding?? Let me know what you’ve used below!

17Aug2016

Engagement Announcements

Posted in Blogging, Entertaining by meganandeggs

I know I am a little late but four months after getting engaged we finally sent out our engagement announcements to some of our family members. We went back and forth about whether or not we were going to go old school & send actual announcements. We assumed that it’s 2016, hello there’s Instagram!

Well no. With both Chris & I being from pretty big families we decided the best way to get the announcement out to our aunts & uncles was a good old fashioned engagement announcement. We have family all over the country & I know it’s a little shocking, but not everyone goes to social media for their latest news on friends & family.

We were lucky to have an amazing photographer friend capture our engagement from a far. You can see some of our photos here. We took advantage of having those great shots, & an amazing deal on Shutterfly to share our amazing day with our family.

I for one am obsessed. I love the work Bryan did on our photos & nothing can hold me back from grey stationary with some amazing photography. I went back and forth about what photos to choose until I finally decided on a variety of a full body shot, close up & my favorite, a beautiful black and white candid. Let me know what you think!

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24Jul2016

Engagement Gift Ideas

Posted in Entertaining by meganandeggs

We have received an amazing amount of love & support from our friends & family regarding our engagement. It was a weekend full of festivities that we were lucky enough to share with our parents & closest friends.

Lucky for me, a few of my girlfriends are in the same boat as I am, getting engaged & beginning the wedding planning process so we are able to bounce ideas off one another, talk flowers with each other, & celebrate one of the most exciting times of our lives together. Unfortunately for me, my oldest & closest girlfriends live 3,000 miles away. So while a lot of our California friends were able to spend the weekend with us, my girlfriends on the east coast were unable to travel out for the weekend.

17Apr2016

We’re Engaged!!!

Posted in Entertaining, Updates by meganandeggs

DYER_013_web So this month has been kind of crazy. On April 1, 2016 Chris asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I know super girly, but I felt like a total princess & he made it one of the most amazing weekends of my life. He had his entire family there, our California friends, & best of all… my parents there to surprise me for the exciting day. I told you… princess.

Thursday he told me that Friday we would be going to dinner down in Dana Point & he kind of left it at that. Well, being the crazy person I am & hating having secrets, I asked him every question I could eluding to is this going to be the big day?? He wouldn’t tell me anything! Not even the restaurant that we were going to. Even when I confided in a few girlfriends… nothing. So when we got to Dana Point an hour before our reservation he suggested to go to the beach for a little walk.

About a year ago our best friend, Patrick, & I had found this little beach along PCH that I fell in love with. There are these amazing mansions along a gorgeous coast line, with a cute little boardwalk that is set below the houses & above the sand. (You’ve probably seen in on my Instagram a time or two. Beautiful.) Well like I said, I have fallen in love with this beach & I make sure I bring everyone I know here. So when we pulled in & Chris parked as far to the right of the beach I started looking around. Any car that I could recognize, but there was nothing.

After a lot of complaining, he finally got me to walk down the million steps, in my wedges, to the boardwalk. We hung out, walked & talked a little, until we were just about to the end when I said I needed to… go to the restroom… Yeah that’s right, girlfriend had to pee. So at the end of the boardwalk I hung left to head to the restroom & when I looked up there was my friend Bryan, a photographer, standing with his camera. (Check out his Website here and if you need someone in LA he is your guy!) Awkward. And oooh so nerve-racking.

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Chris grabbed my hand & pulled me down to the sand where we started to walk toward the end of the beach. There was a blanket set up, a few candles in lanterns, & in the corner was a mason jar full of notes. One note was rolled opposite the others & he handed me that first. A note from him. We chatted… well he chatted, as I shook with nerves, until he pulled out the ring, when I shook some more.

The rest of the notes in the mason jars? Notes from our families & friends of congratulations & best wishes. And just when I thought it was done, Bryan came over to do a little engagement shoot with us in front of the sunset.

So remember that terrible walk down the stairs I complained about before? Well now it was time for us to walk up… & yes I complained the entire time. Even after I took my shoes off. Holy crap! We got to the top, jokes around with Bryan, & as I was putting on my shoes & we got closer to the parking lot Bryan started backing off. And then I realized all of our friends & Chris’s family were standing in the distance.

We all exchanged, hellos & congratulations & as I was hugging my future mother-in-law, I saw my parents over her shoulder. Pure princess moment, & our night, or weekend were nowhere near over.

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We all headed down PCH to Salt Creek Grille where Chris & his parents hosted an amazing dinner for all of our guests, with some of the most delicious tri-tip, salmon, & ravioli I have ever had. And let me tell you the wine & Veuve Clicquot never stopped flowing.

Saturday morning everyone woke up & headed down to Temecula where we spent the day at the amazing Wilson Creek Winery. It was perfect since we had Chris’s younger siblings with us & Wilson Creek has a cute little picnic area with a playground. Everyone had sandwiches from the winery’s grille & we spent the day drinking, laughing, & soaking up the sun. After the winery everyone headed back to our apartment where Chris had already rented out our clubhouse area & we grilled, ate, & spent time mixing our families together.

The entire weekend was truly a fairytale. The only thing I could even think that would make it better is if my family & friends from Connecticut could have been there with us. But that just makes me look forward to the big day even more. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family, amazing family of soon to be in-laws, perfect friends & the man that truly makes me complete. As corny as it is, he is the ying to my yang & I am so lucky to have found him.

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