THE FIRST YEAR OF MARRIAGE

We are back stateside from our 2 week European family trip and I'm feeling super refreshed! I love nothing more than coming back from a trip and feeling like a new women. My ideas and inspiration buckets are crazy full right now and I feel like I'm bursting at the seams with what is to come here at East Willow Grove (the blog and YouTube channel) and over at the shop; East + Willow!

This trip was a special one, it was to celebrate Jerek's golden birthday, 31 on March 31st. It was to celebrate our first year of marriage, it was to celebrate family and love and life in general. This last year has really flown by and many amazing things have happened. We've grown as a couple and as a family sharing ups and downs, tears and laughter. You hear so often that the first year is often the hardest. I went into this first year thinking we've been together for 13 how hard could this year be.

Van Hoosen Farm Wedding

First post back after a long labor day weekend and I figured I spare you the first day of Kindergarten post until he actually has his first day, which is Thursday. Tracen's school has 8 kids come on Tuesday, 8 on Wednesday, 8 on Thursday and then all the kids on Friday. He's a Thursday kid so you'll be able to cry with me later on in the week, no worries.

The Garden Theater- Detroit Wedding

On July 23rd I loaded up my camera gear, kissed the boys bye for the day and headed to Detroit to the Ren Cen to start my day. Ryan and Sydney were getting married and it was a full day of shooting! I met Sydney way back when I worked with her sister at a tanning salon. I remember one day she walked in to tan and she was so bubbly and full of life and didn't stop talking, she was my kind of girl! Ryan and I went to high school together and had a lot of friends in common so it was so cute to see them together as I knew them through totally separate walks of life!

Wedding Videography

Wedding planning ended months ago for us and while I can say that I'm happy the planning aspect is over I realize how much I kinda sorta maybe enjoyed it. Perhaps it was just the whole week in Mexico I enjoyed, or seeing our plans and ideas come all together or spending it with family and friends, regardless, it was amazing!

If you've been following along here for some time you will know that I've been recording our everyday life for a little over two years now! When I first started vlogging Jerek definitely didn't understand it, he was annoyed that I had a camera out all the time, that I was editing on the couch while we watched TV and that I was always trying to document things.

He quickly grew out of it after he realized how awesome it was to look back on the memories at any given day. I often catch him re-watching videos from weeks, months or even years ago, it's real cute! Jer even vlogged during his birthday scavenger hunt last year if you haven't seen it! The idea behind the vlogs were to not just capture the traveling we do or the big events but to also capture the everyday moments, the things you easily forget about. I didn't want that to happen.

Aside from capturing our everyday life I love just as much capturing other peoples special moments. This summer has been full of filming weddings and it's not slowing down! I've had a ton of inquiries and I've been working on a new website so today I wanted to share it with you now since it's up and running!

Come peak around East Willow Media and tell me what you think! I'm still in the process of editing and uploading more weddings, travel videos and more so stay tuned!

I have a few spots left open in 2016 and have started booking for 2017! I've been editing away on the couch at night while watching Netflix with Jerek, it's been a crazy, fun and exciting summer to say the least! Feel free to look around the site and if you have any questions, ask away!

How To Find The Perfect Wedding Dress

| All photos are by the amazing Monroe Fox Photography |

Wedding dress shopping.

A time every girl dreams about.

Trying on dresses, feeling like a princess, crying when they've found the one.

Like most things wedding related I was dreading it.

I didn't mind trying dresses on, wasn't really worried about my weight, nor did I care to look like a princess, in fact I wasn't even sure I'd cry like everyone says they do.

I wasn't dreading so much finding a dress but finding one I liked that wasn't a shit ton of money.

I knew the styles I liked because I had pinned a ton. But I also looked at the prices of those pins and knew most were far more than I wanted to spend.

Something I just don't understand is when people spend a mortgage payment, or ten, on a wedding dress! I don't care what anyone says it's INSANE.

If you've been married think about how much you spent on your wedding dress...now think about what trip(s) you could have gone on instead.

Yea, makes you feel real dumb doesn't it.

That's how I feel about that. Travel over clothing, ALWAYS.

Last year I wrote a post here on how I found my wedding dress, the cost, etc. If you follow along on Snapchat (@eastwillowgrove) or on Instagram you've seen a few pictures from the wedding. Today I wanted to share the dress in more detail.

As mentioned I found my dress at David's Bridal, not somewhere I thought I'd find it to be honest. I always thought they had cheeseball dresses so I was pleasantly surprised at the selection and the fact that I loved my dress almost instantly upon trying on.

I went  shopping knowing that the absolute most I was willing to spend was $1000.

MAX.

And that was if I didn't think I could live without the dress. Who the hell thinks they "just can't live without a dress?" I honestly wanted to spend $500 or less. My dress was $500.

Boom.

After I had decided it was the one my mom told me she was going to give me $500 toward a dress regardless so she basically bought my dress for me!

It was perfect.

It had that beachy boho vibe I wanted. There wasn't too much structure as I knew a fitted dress would look out of place in a wedding in Mexico.

But it fit me perfectly and most importantly I felt fucking beautiful in it.

As a mom my body isn't exactly how it was before kids so feeling beautiful is sometimes a challenge.

It had an empire waist so I didn't have to stress about it looking unflattering on my mommy midsection.  I also went braless and my funbags sagbags didn't look half bad! I knew I didn't want strapless when we were looking and I loved that this had a sweetheart shape bust line but it had what they call an illusion tank.

Here is the link for the dress if you want to see it on a 5'9 model but I think I looked pretty damn good in it myself!

I've thought about selling it because like I said, travel over clothing but I decided against it. I'm hoping maybe one day I could pass it on to a niece or daughter-in-law; because we know I'll most likely only have all boys #notmadaboutit #houseofboys I might even be buried in it. Is that morbid of me to think about?

As I've mentioned before, find a dress that makes you feel beautiful. If that is a $50 dress from Zara, wear it! If it's a $10,000 from a shop in London, wear it, but know you could be traveling the world on that kind of money! Your wedding dress is suppose to scream you.

Brides are often so caught up in the wedding chaos that we think we're suppose to do this, to wear that, to think this. It's fucking exhausting!

If you're wedding dress shopping don't dip out on David's Bridal, they might just surprise you!

XX chels

PS. to view any wedding related post you can click on the Wedding section under topics here to the Right. Or you can click here if that is better!

Destination Wedding Planning- Wedding Talk: Flowers

[All photos are taken by Monroe Fox Photography ]

With our surprise Nashville trip done and June in full swing I figured I should get back into the wedding talk since I have so much to share but haven't really shared it. SO lets slide into something fun and easy and talk about flowers!
                           

Our wedding package included my bridal bouquet and 2 boutonnieres. I paid extra to have the girls bouquets made in smaller version of mine there in Mexico. Since I couldn't see any of the flowers in person I sent numerous emails and texts to my sister in law who runs a floral business to help me pick everything out. I knew I wanted some greenery with all white/off white flowers. She knew by the flower names what ones were available in Mexico that I could also get in white. The resort had sent me pictures of flower arrangements to choose from. After speaking with my coordinator she said I could choose an arrangement and then alter the colors of the flowers [as long as they came in the colors requested.] This is the picture [below on the left] that I choose but what I told my wedding planner in Mexico was listed below.

( I would like this arrangement/the style of it but I want to keep the Limonium flowers and then use a combination of Roses, Alstromaeria, Lisianthis, dahlia and Marguerite-all in WHITE-with some greenery]

As you can see just because this is the picture they show you, you don't HAVE to have those exact flowers. There were others I could choose from that were white so with Amy's help I incorporated them in and took out the pink ones. I left the bits of purple in because they went really well with the girls dresses and flower crowns

You can see the girls bouquets were just smaller versions of mine. I was very hesitant on what these would look like but they turned out beautifully! One of my favorite things from being in weddings is taking the bouquet home and sticking in a vase for the next month so I was bummed we couldn't take any of these with us (due to the flight and bringing outside items into the U.S)

Speaking of flower crowns! This was another add-on I could have had the resort florist make but if you read my post about our pre-ception and my sister in law who did those beautiful flowers you'll be excited to know that she also did the flower crowns, boutonnieres and corsages.

Amy is the owner of MI Honeybee Flowers and does amazing work with real flowers so I knew she was up for the challenge of making everything I wanted with faux flowers! I wanted to go this route for 2 reasons, 1. to save money. The flower add on options carried a large price tag and 2. the ability to fully customize and bring a part of Michigan with us to Mexico.

With that in mind we needed to have everything assembled here and able to transport it to Mexico with us safely.

I started off by asking each girl to measure her head so Amy knew what she was working with. She then dragged me to Michaels one Sunday afternoon and I stood in the isles complaining about how I really don't know what I want. I'm really a bad wedding planner guys! So I did what any bride in 2016 does and I went to my Pinterest board. I had a private one only my mom and I could see as I didn't want everyone able to see my vision, or lack there of!

Here are couple photos I showed her for inspiration while flower shopping. I also sat and stared at her as she held together different color combos and said yeah that's pretty. and nodded a lot. I kinda let her have at it if we're being honest here! I trust her 110% so I knew what she would make would be beautiful. Plus, her and her husband would also be wearing these so I knew all was well!

The girls each wore different styles and colors of dresses so I knew the one thing I wanted that matched was the flower crowns. I wanted them to be simple as to not take away from the dresses but to also tie into mine. Amy did an amazing job, they fit every ones head perfectly without ever trying them on before hand! They stayed on all night and traveled in my suitcase effortlessly.

The one thing I knew while wedding planning was I wanted a flower crown. I just did. I didn't want some huge head dress that I could barely keep from breaking my neck though. Something that worked with the girls dress but was beachy boho like the style that we were going for. Again Amy killed it with my crown. You might even find me rocking it this summer with a black romper if you're lucky!

Moving onto the moms flowers. She made both mine and Jerek's/her mom beautiful corsages. I had asked her if we really should do this because I tend to think these can be super cheesy but she assured me they don't have to be! Again, she was totally right [not sure why I ever doubted her!] She used cute pearl elastic bracelets to adhere the small floral arrangements to and they were the least bit cheesy, defiantly glad I had her do them!

As mentioned above our package included 2 boutonnieres but since Amy was making the bridal party ones, I gave these two to Jerek's dad, who was our officiant/married us and to Tom, my moms boyfriend (she hates that word) our sound man, DJ and ultimate tech engineer!

For the guys I showed her the picture above and again said they need to be similar but NOT too matchy to mine or the girls. Home runs must be her thing because I think I loved these more than the flower crowns and I LOVED the crowns!

Another item that was included in our wedding package was a "head table centerpiece." Since we weren't doing a head table I knew I wanted to utilize everything that we were paying for. I picked this flower arrangement from the pre-made ones offered to us and said that I would like this one but with Lilis, roses and alstroemeria, all in white please!" They did a great job with this piece as well!

I used this on the table under the pergola for added decoration. We then had this moved to the reception after the ceremony was over.

So, I'm sure you are wondering cost so I'll break it down for you:

$125 at Michaels. I ended up returning $45 worth of unused flowers after Amy was finished. Making the 4 flower crowns, 5 boutonnieres and 2 corsages $79! BOOM!

$295 for 3 brides maids bouquets. As mentioned the bridal bouquet, 2 boutonnieres and centerpiece were included in our wedding package.

A total of $374 was spent on flowers! I know many weddings I've gone to that have costs thousands and dollars and I'm here to tell you it doesn't HAVE to be! Find a good florist and do a little research. Figure out what is really important to you and what works for your budget. I knew I didn't need or want any decorations at the alter because the view alone was breath taking!

If you are planning a wedding here in Michigan or in a land far away contact Amy! I promise you, you won't be disappointed! She has done both our small wedding of 30 in Mexico, our Pre-ception of about 90 here in Michigan and a ton of other weddings here in Michigan ranging from different budgets and locations, even a wedding on the Detroit people mover!!!

I realize I sound 100% completely bias as she's one of my best friends and sister in laws but I mean it when I say she's the bee's knees in this flower business! Get it, MI Honeybee Flowers! Anywho, happy hump day and wedding talk Wednesday! 

xx-Chel

The First Month of Marriage

|Taking pictures after the wedding-photographer- Monroe Fox Photography |

Happy Cinco de Mayo and happy 1 month of wedded bliss! 

While I update you with what has been going on this last month I'm adding in photos from my camera from our trip. What is a blog post without photos right? (not a real blog post I say!)

I'm here to tell you nothing has changed. Not even my last name. I haven't even changed my name on Facebook, never mind going to the secretary of state and starting that whole headache!

|Swimming with Dolphins Cove|

| The one and only, Jenny from Monroe Fox Photography|

This last month has been busy! We started demo-ing our back family room and Jerek is currently driving around with a ton of bricks in the back of his truck that need to go to the dump (no really it weighs probably a ton!) We got flooring quotes and started talking about paint colors, fireplace layouts and new furniture. Trying to keep kids and a dog out of that space is tiring.

| Groomsmen lookin like babes|

|Skylor puked this up about 30 minutes later on the bus|

|Now Jade Resort|

I started taking more lash extension clients, working on videos for myself and for others and getting ready for wedding season as my schedule is booking up with shoots! I snuck away for a girls weekend in Traverse City a couple weekends ago for a bachlorette party. Tracen started soccer and we have been running around like crazy people trying to get home from work on time, get everyone changed, fed and off to practices and games; it's been exhausting but I'm excited for warm weather soccer!

| My ride or dies- Allie, Valentijn, Elyse & Blake|

|The boat Jerek lost his wedding ring on...two days after the wedding|

I paid off two credit cards, have managed not to use them, and am working on the other two! Slowly but surely, right! I've amped up my t-shirt production time in my Etsy shop and have been having orders come in left and right. I also started designing a couple new ones to add to the summer lineup.

| Allie & Valentijn| 

I have a surprise trip booked out of the state for a belated birthday and wedding gift for Jerek at the beginning of June and it's taking everything in me to not tell him where we're going and what we're doing; I'm not very good at holding in surprises! We got rid of cable and are saving almost $130/month by just having internet and Netflix, I'm excited to see that savings start! We also started watching a new show; Game of Thrones and I'm loving it surprisingly!

|Jerek tearing up during the best man speech|

|My babe of babes|

Over all this last month has been a little hectic post wedding! As we try to figure out this next house project we're doing, how to manage our schedules with the kids and to remember to make time for each other. We are still the same parents, I still yell when no one listens to me. I still wear my retainers and sweats to bed. I don't shower any more than I did before and I don't try to impress Jerek with any 'wife like super powers' you gain after saying I do!

After the wedding

It's been awhile since we last spoke, sorry bout that! As you may have seen from the last post, IE: 20 days ago, I was off to get murried! Yes, I spelt that wrong so you would hopefully pronounce it like I do when Jerek and I talk.

Anywho.

Back to the point.

I mentioned before leaving the best way to see any photos or videos would be on Snapchat or on Instagram ( both are @eastwillowgrove) so if you joined me in the adventures there you would have seen all the fun and amazing cocktails we were drinking, the beautiful sunsets, Skylor being sassy and the selfie that Jerek asked to take at the alter in his vows. In case you're wondering, that's why I married him. I mean HE ASKED ME TO TAKE A SELFIE AT THE ALTER PEOPLE!!!! This man is a dream boat I tell ya! (If you haven't seen it go take a peak. There's a photobomber in the background) :)

Things around here and my Youtube channel have been quieter than I'd like over the last year. I've had dreams, ideas and plans for both outlets but planning a destination wedding, raising kids, working full-time and trying to maintain a house have been exhausting. Never mind the fact trying to fit in date nights, snuggles with the kids and time at the gym took up so much of my brain that some of these ideas and plans were put on hold. 

That is until now. Now my brain is about 40% freed up! No really, it is. I swear half my brain was consumed with wedding things most days. I was constantly looking up bridal gifts, researching flight options, shopping for shorts, ties and shirts. There were fake flowers to buy for crowns and boutonnieres, shoes to find in secret bins at Marshalls, makeup looks to Pin and tears to cry over all of it.

Wedding planning wasn't this ideal fun planning sesh for me, it was work and it took up a lot of my time, time I wanted to be spending filming or photographing my family. It was time spent on lunch breaks where I'd ask Elyse what appetizer she thought people would rather eat. I sent pictures of shoes to my mom while I sat on a bench in DSW alone thinking is this really important, does this really even matter?

All the stress and planning was worth it though. I never understood when people said that because wedding planning wasn't this thing I looked forward to like 99% of the women in this world. I never really dreamt what my wedding would look like but if I ever did, it was 99% better than I ever thought it would have been!

I will share more wedding photos once my wonderful and talented photographer Jenny, of Monroe Fox Photography, sends them my way. But you can't tell from the sneak peaks though, they are breath taking! [You can see all of Jennys work on her Facebook page or website ]

I can't wait to share all the details, planning and stories that lead up to the big day but for now I'll leave you with a hi, hello, I'm back, with SO much planned, so stay tuned!!! Love you guys!

THE Wedding in Mexico

[Photo by: Monroe Fox Photography]

The time has come, the time is now! We are leaving in the morning to Mexico! 

I have shared so much of our lives with you all and I wish that everyone could be in Mexico sharing this special moment with our family but alas, I am no millionaire! If you're a stalker like me (no shame in my social media stalker game!) I love following peoples stories so I'm giving you the opportunity to continue to follow ours while we are in Mexico! I'm sure I will be posting numerous amounts of droll worthy photos with captions that are ever so enticing on Instagram so make sure you follow along there. You can also look up the hashtag #lampinenlovestory to see anyone that is with us posts as well as follow my Snapchat for shenanigans at (username: eastwillowgrove) 

Thank you to everyone for the encouraging words, the advice and the outpouring love for me and the boys. Stay tuned for massive photo and videos upon our arrival home and yes if you're wondering, I'm filming and editing my wedding and entire trip myself! With the help of tripods, timers and a few people to push start and stop, it will be done! 

VIVA LA MEXICO!!!

Hump Day Confessions: Wedding Planning

Wedding planning hasn't really been that enjoyable for me if we're going to be honest here. I'm 90% sure this is because I take on so much. This is also why my word for the year is balance!

Sure, finding a dress that makes me feel beautiful in, having a 'parentachlorette' party and shopping for the boys has been fun but it's been stressful.

I work full-time and that job has been pretty demanding the last few years. While being bogged down in corporate life I also blog here, film for my YouTube channel, film weddings and events, run an Etsy shop and am a mom. All these things outside of work is where my passion lies. I wake up early or stay up late to edit, to write, and to create. If a wedding email comes in at 9pm I automatically become 'too tired' and pretend I can't be bothered to respond. Call it a copping mechanism but I'm a procrastinator to the fullest when it comes to this wedding planning business. This is no surprise if you follow my Snapchats (@eastwillowgrove) as I speak out this frequently!

Wedding planning has been more of a chore. Ticks on a to-do list that I always dread pulling out. Phone calls and emails I feel are never ending and the money, the money! I keep telling myself we are spending it wisely and I know when I'm on the beach with a Mai Tai in hand I will believe it, but for now, I keep questioning myself.

This is the reason why I wanted a destination wedding though. I wanted to relish in a feeling of bliss with my family and friends for a week. To feel like the money was well spent, the phone calls and emails paid off and that to-do list was done, finished, completed. 

My brain is filled with so much wedding planning I feel lost in the midst of it all. If pictures and video didn't mean everything to me I would probably walk down the isle bare foot in my favorite sweats eating candy with the boys, drinking a cocktail and smiling at Jerek. I'm ready for these next 10 days to fly by. I'm ready to shoot travel diary videos I've been dreaming about, to be on our first ever family vacation all four of us and to say 'I still do' to Jerek.

T-MINUS 13 DAYS!

10 Things I've Learned Destination Wedding Planning

Another week of chaos has passed and we are less than ONE MONTH FROM THE ACTUAL WEDDING DAY!!!

This last week I had to fill out 18 pages worth of questions for the resort to plan for our arrival. Things like what kind of ambiance lighting do you want for the cocktail hour (I didn't even know that was a thing!) to questions about flowers, menus, chair counts and cake choices. I picked up my wedding dress from the final alterations and it fits amazingly (big relief since a month ago it was a littttttllleee too snug!)

While going through this whole process over the last year I've had many people ask me questions regarding planning a destination wedding. While answering questions I've been keeping a list of things I wish I would have listened to or done. So for anyone thinking about planning a destination wedding, hopefully this will help you, (realistically this could go for a traditional wedding as well.) [I'm going to have a follow up to this post AFTER we have the wedding so you will have an idea of do's and don'ts of how the actual wedding went as well.]

1. DON'T SAY THE BRIDAL PARTY CAN WEAR WHATEVER- I learned this the hard way. At first I told the girls "you can wear whatever, you'll look great in anything!" Then it turned into, "you can wear whatever but it needs to be in this color scheme" Now I'm wishing I would have just been like, "you wear this, you wear this and you wear this" The only reason I say this is because no one wants the bride to NOT like what you picked out so I always felt bad when the girls would ask if I liked a certain dress or not. I love all the dresses they picked and they go nicely together but laying something simple out like find a long dress in navy would have been smarter on my part then me trying to be an "easy going bride" when ultimately you still want a certain look.

2. PICK COLORS/THEME- Another thing I was very like "I'm not having a theme or color scheme, as long as everything looks nice I'm cool with it!" My wishy washy ways caught up with me when I changed my colors and my mom remade all the banners for the pre-ception because I switched my theme/color scheme. This also goes with #1 which you just read because I changed my ideas on those colors/theme so.many.times. Damn me!

3. FIGURE OUT HOW PEOPLE CAN HELP- Everyone wants to help, everyone asks to help and they mean well. My problem is I don't like asking for help and I don't like giving up control. My mom offers help all the time but I have no idea how to let her pick up something as simple as a slip for under my dress, because I feel this need and desire to do everything myself! #controlissues So make a list of all the things you need to do, every month, week or days as it gets closer and write peoples names next to the functions or things you will need them to do. The ask if those people can help YOU do these things or just do it themselves. It makes them feel involved and useful and that they are helping you out, which they are, give up some control why don't you!

4. DON'T TRY TO "DIY" EVERYTHING- I had this whole vision that I would be making all these decorations and bringing everything with us and as it's has gotten closer I've not only realized I don't have the TIME to do all the things I had envisioned, I also don't have the space in our extra luggage to bring all these brilliant ideas! I will have more on this later about what I DIYd vs. what I spent money for someone else to make and what I said eff it all together to in posts after the wedding.

5. DON'T THINK OF IT AS A VACATION- This entire time I have just been thinking about this as a vacation with my closest family and friends. Once we got the boys passports in and our flights booked I literally didn't even look at that 18 page booklet I needed to fill out. I didn't think about chairs, lighting, menus or anything else until about a week ago, big mistake! I thought of it as a vacation and it was getting close, how exciting! It's still a wedding and weddings take planning! Remember to keep your mind in "wedding mode", you're just planning it from afar so you don't loose scope of what is really going on or you'll end up stressed when that 18 page document is due to your wedding coordinator in 3 hours. Just me? mmkk...

6. INVOLVE FAMILY THAT ISN'T GOING-When you plan a destination wedding you have to go into it knowing that maybe no one may be able to come. With that said try and do things that involve family or friends that won't be able to partake in the festivities. For instance, I had a dress fitting for alterations and my mom, aunt, grandma and I all had dinner before and went to the dress fitting after. They were able to talk wedding plans with me and see me in the dress. We took some pictures and it was great time! I personally didn't think that it would be a big deal but my mom mentioned involving them and making it a little girls night out. I was so glad that I did because it meant a lot to them and me in the end.

7. HAVE A PRE-WEDDING PARTY- Ours was in September and we combined it as a wedding shower so anyone that couldn't (or could) go to Mexico could go to the party and celebrate with us. This also was my preferred method so I didn't have to have a wedding shower and sit and open gifts awkwardly in front of people. I HATE opening gifts in front of people, my reaction is never as genuine as I'm feeling inside.

8. DON'T WORRY ABOUT TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS- 90% of our guests going to Mexico are leaving out of Michigan but there are some leaving from San Francisco, DC and Chicago. Then there are some staying the entire week and some are only going for 4 days. I decided to not go through our travel agent for booking flights because 1. She sucked (but that's another story for another time) and 2. Everyone has their own agenda. Some want leave early, some later, some out of Detroit some out of other cities and it can get to be a bit much trying to please all parties!

People also have their own price in their mind they are wanting to pay and I just can't be stalking the internet for people to find good flights and the perfect time, for the perfect price, I just can't. With our wedding being over a Spring Break week prices are a little higher than normal. As we are in the less than 30 day range I've been extremely stressed that some people haven't bought tickets but as others have reminded me, they will get to Mexico and it's their own problem, don't worry about it. Truth be told, it's hard not too, work life is crazy busy and we still aren't 100% sure on what Jerek and the boys are wearing so I'm trying to concentrate my mind there!

9. DON'T BOOK THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENT-I know, you may think I'm crazy but you know what the travel agent did that I couldn't do through the resort website? JACK SHIT! In fact, she has only made my life so much more stressful! There was literally NOTHING she did that I couldn't have done myself or done WITH the wedding coordinator. As long as you do a little research and have good contact with the wedding coordinator at the resort you WILL BE FINE!

10. DO A DESTINATION WEDDING- If you're on the fence read some more posts and dig a little deeper, I'm sure you will find your answer son! This past year I've been in weddings, gone to weddings and shot video for weddings and after each one I always ask myself, do I wish I was having it here in Michigan? And every time my answer to myself is NO, absolutely not! Sure, I would love it if my entire family could be with us celebrating, my dad could walk me down the isle, that I didn't have to try and fit everything for a wedding into suitcases or to try and pick out chairs, flowers, decor, dinner and cake without seeing ANYTHING for ourselves.

This day isn't about anyone else but me, Jerek and the boys. We aren't going into debt or taking out loans for a wedding, we aren't getting just a few hours with family and friends hoping by the end of the night you made sure you said hi to everyone, (including aunt Bertha who is your moms, sisters, best friend cousin but just haddd to be there.) What we are getting is an entire week with family and friends. We are paying for everything with cash that we've saved. We get to have a vacation in the sun with unlimited food and drinks, with room service 24/7 filled with swimming, laughter and fun.

No matter what wedding route you go make sure it represents you, the couple getting married, and what you both want. At the end of the day you are still going home as a married couple.

Remember: A tiger doesn't loose sleep over the opinion of a sheep

Don't be a sheep, baaa betch!

Passport Photo Outtakes

On Monday I posted our weekend vlog and most people were dying over the photos I inserted from taking Skylor's passport photo. I wanted to tape the whole experience but I was using the camera I brought to video, to take the damn photo! You can watch the vlog here if you missed it.

You see we tried taking Skylor to get his photo taken a few weeks ago when we had Tracen's done. He screamed bloody murder and I started crying, proclaiming to all of SAMS Club that WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO TO MEXICO! 

A bit dramatic, I know, but if you could have seen the freaking hoops we had to jump through to get a picture taken you would have cried to! I even asked the women if he could be crying in the photo...would they accept that. 

Can you imagine. Us going through customs and the guard looking at his passport photo. 

I'd probably get arrested right there for them thinking I kidnapped the kid, forced him to take the photo (which I had to) and then dragged him to Mexico. OUI!

I figured I would share all 30 somethin photos that didn't make the passport requirements, they are just too good to toss in a virtual trash can on my laptop.

If you even for the slightest moment think I'm over reacting picture this.

Jerek holding his phone playing Miles from Tommorrowland just above my camera, while I have a bag of chocolate cookies in the other hand, talking in a baby voice "look right here Sky! You're the cutest Sky! You want a piece of candy baby! Okayyy you gotta sit reallllllyyy good for mommy and daddy!!!!

This went on for 30 minutes.

I would snap a view, take my SD card out and let the girl look at what I got on her computer and see if they matched up to what the passport photo requirements require. They didn't do we would throw the SD card back into my camera and start all over. We also failed as parents and forgot the diaper bag at home so we used his beloved blankey to constantly wipe his face free from chocolate. However we couldn't let him hold on to the blanket or he would want us to pick him up. It was a grueling process.

But we did it. Now we just have to pray the passport people doesn't reject the photo and application that we just sent in because we have 8 weeks till the wedding!

Do yourself a favor and get your kids passport photos taken when they are still in your womb!

Wedding Reception Outfit: Wedding Talk

Lets continue the pre-ception wedding talk shall we! Last week I shared all the details on the vendors we used including how much everything costs. While I was tempted to talk about clothes I refrained because well, the post was long enough!

I knew going into shopping I wanted to find something new for everyone to wear, something affordable and something we would wear more than just once. I really don't buy things anymore just for one occasion, they need to be multifunctional.

For the outdoor party I was trying to find something long, flowy and NOT white. As you can tell I got neither long nor flowy and I wore white. The reason behind this was because I couldn't find anything that I loved and was reasonably priced. I did find this dress and this dress but I wasn't loving either or price tag.

We got the boys and Jerek's outfits first. I wasn't feeling myself the day we went shopping, most likely I was on the rag and felt like a 1000 pound whale so dressing the boys was more fun at that moment. All three boys got their outfits at H&M with the exception of Jerek's vest and tie he already had that were from Forever 21 Men.

I wasn't going to have the boys match but it just ended up happening that way. The pants and blue shirts are different colors but ultimately, they have the same outfit on, womp womp. If we ever have twins (which secretly I want, you won't catch me dressing them them same, I'm just not really into the matchy matchy look)

Jerek bought new pants and a shirt from H&M and then used a tie and vest that he already had at home. How handsome is this guy!

As I shopped around for myself the more I thought about nixing the dress idea and getting a romper. You see, I still needed to be a mom and take care of kids that day so I wanted to make sure that if I was bending over I didn't have a butt cheek flop out or a post nursing nip slip, you know, casual things.

I ended up going to Forever 21 as you do, and found a little white romper. I was so against white at first because well, WHITE AND BOYS = ONE SLOPPY MESS! Not to mention I'm a slop kabob in real life so white is just not a good idea for me. Truth be told it could have been pink (ew) and I would have gotten it because it complimented my body SO well!

I self tanned the day before and if I'm being honest here, which I always am, I looked hawwwttt! My legs looked like I spent a week in Mexico minus the sun cancer of course. I've raved about this tanner many times, I even wrote a whole post on it because it's THAT great. You can check out the post here or stalk Loving Tans instagram because the before and afters are LIFEEE!

I'll definitely be bringing the romper with us to Mexico while we're there so it wasn't a one time outfit wear that I thought might be happening. At the end of the night everyone actually seemed to manage to not spill wine apple juice on their clothes so I was pretty happy with ourselves!

Hope you guys are having a great week and Happy early Thanksgiving! Don't forget I have a HUGE Black Friday sale on all the T-Shirts in my Etsy shop! The codes are good till December 1st so snag some house of boy shirts, kids, Olsen, Drake and Brunch tee's!