{Adventures In} Wedding Day Emergency Kits

As one of my gifts to my best friend for her bridal shower, I decided to make her a wedding day emergency kit. Most day-of coordinator's will have a fully stocked kit at their disposal, but she decided against hiring one since her venue has mostly everything on site - except someone with an emergency kit. So what did I do? Hit up the travel section at Target and filled up a basket with all of these goodies!

I didn't want to put these items in a clear tupperware box and call it a day. I wanted something that was more personal as well as something she can use forever. I found these adorable personalized bags at WeddingChicks.com - I had such a hard time choosing the style I liked best. Best part, it was only $10, plus the cost of shipping! I eventually chose this one and think it came out amazing!

The last thing I included was a note to explain what I had put together. (So it didn't look like I scavenged the travel bins at Target for fun). I found this poem on Weddingbee and changed it up a bit to match items that I had included. This Survival Kit was made just to say, I'm thrilled I'm beside you on your wedding day! There's trail mix to give you that sugar high and a packet of tissues in case you should cry. Chapstick to help you care for your smile, If a nail should break, I've included a file. There is Shout if you should spill on your dress and Altoids to keep your breath minty fresh. There's Advil and Tums if it's ill that you feel and Band-aids to help you tackle high heels.  I've put everything in this handy pack so you'll know that this bridesmaid has got your back! This kit was created so that you can see  how much you mean to me, your Matron-of-Honor to be! I wish I had taken a picture of the kit, complete with the poem, but it didn't happen. #blogfail. I hope this helps you ladies put together your Day-Of Wedding Emergency Kits.

{Adventures In} DIY Fabric Garland {tutorial}

Otherwise known as, That Shi*t Fray. (See what I did there?)  Anywho, everyone familiar with these gorgeous fabric banners? 

source Ok good. They are super simple to make - it just takes some time. And a whole lot of patience. As you all know, I am planning my best friend's purple ombre' bridal shower (which is in 3 weeks...eeek!). One of the design elements that I desperately wanted was a fabric garland, like the one above. The perfect place for this beauty will be in front of the fireplace. Only problem is, my friend's fireplace is MASSIVE. Like 6 1/2 feet of marble, MASSIVE. So, in order for the garland to not be completely eaten up by this fireplace, it needs to be massive as well.  Items Needed: Fabric. I bought 3 different colors of fabric, 2 yards each. I thought I was over-buying at the time. Ha. Twine. It depends on how you want to display the garland. I chose a thicker twine knowing that my garland would be heavy. You can use a thinner twine or a 1 inch thick piece of left over fabric.  Self-healing mat. Rotary cutter. These are nice to haves. You can certainly just cut 2 inch strips with scissors.  Step 1: Cut strips. The mantel alone is 22 inches tall, so I wanted my strips to be close to that. I cut my strips to be 18 inches long, but remember the fabric comes folded over in half, so your strips will be 36 inches, total. Be prepared for the strips to fray (more on that later).

Step 2: Assemble.  Place strip of fabric behind twine with the folded over part of the fabric at the top.

Take the bottom of the 2 strips and pull them above the twine (this will create a loop), through the top of the strip and back down again. 

Pull tight.

  Voila!! Lather, rinse, repeat. Like a billion times.  So after a couple hours spent, I figured I was done. Or so I thought. Remember how I mentioned that the fabric will fray? (You can actually start to see it fray in the picture above.) Imagine that X's 100. (In hindsight, I should have taken a picture of it, but I was too concerned with getting rid of the fray, I forgot. #blogfail) So I took the scissors and cut each piece of fray. On Every. Single. Piece. Of. Fabric. It took twice as long to cut the fray off as it was to actually make the thing. Had I bought better quality fabric, this may not have happened, I'm not sure. Just be prepared. So, do you want to see the final product? 

and a close up. 

Still some fray, but not NEARLY as bad 

I love how it turned out. Baby K will definitely have one on her 1st birthday, just not 7 feet long. :)

{Adventures In} Bridal Shower Planning

So I'm knee-deep in planning my best friend's bridal shower. We decided on a purple ombre' themed brunch for 50 people. Yes, I said 50 people. In a month. Cray. I'm desperately putting the decor details for the shower together now, but luckily we were smart and have been working on the menu for some time now. It will include:

Beverages: Your standard drinks, such as lemon water, coffee, juices and, wait for it... a mimosa bar. Juices to add to the champagne include orange, peach, pomegranate and strawberry. It's going to be ridic. 

Dishes: Mini pancake kabobs (see below), roasted potatoes, quiche, sausage, shrimp, bagels, fruit, and a yogurt station.  

Desserts: A variety of muffins, donuts, chocolate covered strawberries, cupcakes, mini fruit tarts.

I really wanted to be over the top with the ombre' theme, but with 50 attendees, it just wasn't in the budget. So, I'm planning on adding pops of ombre' where I can through flowers, fabric garland, straws, and in the food. I can't wait to share pictures and maybe a few tutorials. But in the meantime, here is a little inspiration (a la' Pinterest, of course) of what I hope the bridal shower will look like.  

Top Left - Top Middle - Top Right - Bottom Left - Bottom Middle - Bottom Right

{Adventures In} Bridal Shower Invitations

Who knew that there are so many ridiculously adorable purple ombre invitations out there on the interweb. There are so many adorable options out there, it was actually difficult to chose one! Here are just a few that I found and loved. 

top left - top right - bottom left - bottom right

And these are just the purple ones. I found so many other gorgeous ones in various colors - I was in love. But my mission is purple, so I had to contain myself. So which one did I chose, you ask?

Source
Adorbs. We're doing some minor tweaking, so I cannot wait to see how it turns out. Oh, and the shop owner is super helpful and nice, which is always a plus! We're well on our way to an unforgettable bridal shower. My brain is bursting with ideas - I am dying to execute them! 
Which Etsy stationary shops are your favorite?