Hello Fab Friday!!

Sorry to have a "home furnishing" fab find again... but we just went to GR and I could not help myself...

Before we left, Elyse recommended that we visit an awesome lil shop that her and B went to last time they were in GR. 

Rebel. Reclaimed is the name of the shop that we went to and I fell in love with a lamp. I bought one from Target, a week prior, that was glass and felt that it just didn't "go" with the vibe I wanted. I was debating whether or not I should return it when I saw "it" and new right then what my decision would be. :) 

Here it is...

Ps... We were not sure about the shade at first and thought about using one we already had... But during the ride home we fell in love with it's character, kinda scary looking birds and all!! :)

Enjoy your weekends!!!!

XO, K

Fabulous Friday (from Hilton Head)!

Hello, hello! I'm down in South Carolina today visiting my baby brother. I'm loving life in Hilton Head! My fab find today is a cute lil necklace I ordered online at andRuby...

Adorable, right?

Hope everyone has a fab weekend!!  And now... We're off to the mall!

Xo, E

WW: THE Dress!

Happy Wedding Wednesday, all! Kristin and I are talking about how we chose our dresses today. Going shopping for your dress is probably one of THE most exciting parts of getting engaged. It's so fun to feel like a princess in all of the pretty dresses! We both know how hard it is to actually PICK the dress, so today we thought we would share how we chose ours!

Elyse's story: 
I was over the moon excited when I got engaged July 4, 2011. It was perfect because it was summer so I had so much time to start plan, plan, planning! The first thing my mom and I did was make an appointment to try on dresses at Gina's Bridal Boutique. 

First piece of advice: Make an appointment to try on dresses! You will want the attention of the workers at the salon, you aren't crowded by another person, and you can bring a couple people with you to help you decide.

Second piece of advice: Don't bring your whole wedding party with you to try on dresses! I only took my mom at first and then when I went back, I only took my MOH. As much as I'm sure you'd love to have everyone, I can almost promise you will not want everyone's opinion.

So, my mom and I went to try on dresses. I had created a binder with some ideas of styles I may like. After showing them to Gina, she had me walk through the store and just pick out dresses I thought I might like. At this point - go crazy! Pick out anything you MAY think you'll like. The worst that can happen? You don't like it and it's on to the next one. But if you don't try it, you'll never know! Gina also picked some dresses for me. As I tried on my dresses, I thought of ways that I could alter them (because of course I couldn't just keep them the way they were!) We added bows, belts, changed the hems... came up with all sorts of ideas. From here, I narrowed my dress selection down to three.

I knew my best friend/MOH, Jayne, was coming in to town in a week, so I left the top three in my mind and waited for her to get home to see them. I tried on the first dress, she liked it. I tried on the second dress, she liked it. I tried on the third dress ... she cried. And Jayne isn't one to just cry because.  That sealed my decision! It was the dress that she saw me as a bride in. I loved that moment, it will be forever in my mind.

So, after choosing my dress, I decided I wanted the top layer of tulle to be removable so that I could take it off for the reception -- 2 dresses in 1! The seamstress from Gina's, Paulita, was amazing and rocked out my vision. I loooooved my dress! And here she is: (photos with tulle on and without! it just snapped underneath the flowers at the top ... how cool is that!)

Kristin's Story:

OMG....I was ENGAGED!!!  It was so nice that we were out in the middle of nowhere when we got engaged, so we could just enjoy the feeling together (and our wonderful friends that we were on the trip with) and absorb the moment.  Due to not having cell service, we couldn't let anyone know until the next day when we got back into the states.  It was so nice to be "away" because knowing me, I would have started to plan that day :-)

Upon our arrival home, we had already had congratulation gifts, goodies and cards!!!!  What an exciting time this past year has been!!!!!  I, too, was engaged in the summer so let the planning begin!!!!

One of the first things I did was to start looking for THE dress.  I saw one on Pinterest that I fell in LOVE with, so pinned it to my board and there it stayed in the back of my mind.  My "first trying on experience" was with my mom and sis.  We headed to David's Bridal and Demetrio's.  I gave the woman a description of what I did/did not want and the fashion show began!  Let me tell ya....what a fun experience!  My mom and sis made me feel like a princess!!  It was such a crazy feeling that it was MY turn for all of this :-)

Anyway....I tried on a million, loved a couple and just wanted to take some time thinking more about them.  The next week one of my besties, Rebecca, flew in from Missouri SPECIFICALLY to try on dresses with me.  She told me months, maybe years, before my engagement that she wanted to take me to Becker's Bridal in Fowler Michigan whenever I got engaged.  There was a book written about it's "Magic Room" and we knew we had to go.  What another great day!!  I tried on a TON of dresses!!!  We had an hour appointment and tried on many many styles, fabrics, shapes, etc.  but we noticed a pattern.  The ones I liked were all such a similar style-that they started to all look alike.  Becky had the great idea to take a picture of me in each one, get the pics developed and then look at them later, to help make my final decision.

Third piece of advice:
Don't pigeon hole yourself into only one style, you never know what you may find.  Let the experts bring you some suggestions that THEY think would look great on your body type.  Don't be afraid to try them on...heck if you don't like them, oh well....this is YOUR day.  It's ok to say, "nope, it is just not me".  There were things that I knew I did NOT want tho....so I did stick to those.

Forth piece of advice:
If you are on a tight budget, like we were...DO NOT let them show you any dresses above your budget.  There are plenty of dresses out there for you to choose from.  The last thing you want to do is fall in love with a dress you just cannot afford!!!!  There is a method to my madness with this piece of advice...it almost backfired on me, but I stuck to my budget and it all worked out!

I finally had narrowed it down to one at Demetrios, and one at David's Bridal but the Pinterest dress just kept calling my name...I had to research it, just to find out if it was possible for it to be MINE.  The simplicity, yet uniqueness, I just could not stop thinking about.  I found out the designer (Alvina Valenta) and went on a hunt.  Come to find out Bridal Couture of Birmingham had it!!!!!!!! So, I made an appointment (before finding out the price).  Tried it on, fell in LOVE, found out the price, got extremely depressed so went to retry on the dress from Demetrios (that I did love as well)....WELL, turns out that they were having a trunk sale, so the dress would be on sale!!!!  It was meant to be!!!!! I did hmmm and haaa cuz it was a bit more moola... but like another bestie, Crystal said, "this dress is exactly you....I am not sure why you are pondering".  She was absolutely right!! So, folks there ya have it...THE dress story.  Everything works out in the end.  What is meant to be will be :-)

Sorry so many pics....Again, couldn't decide which ones to put on :-)  Thank you again EC Campbell Photography!!!

Well, that is it for WW!! Hope some of these pieces of advice will help!

Have a fabulous day!

XO, E & K

E's Monday Mode

Hey folks! I admit, I don't have much going for my Monday Mode this week. If you live in Michigan, you know how insanely hot it's been ... I have not taken my bathing suit off for 2 days! I did put together a cute lil outfit for work one day this week and I got a new t-shirt that I love! Here we go:

Outfit #1

Dress: Nordstrom BP 

Tank: Hello Apparel (This was my "Fab Friday Find"!)

Bracelets: Forever 21, Pandora, & Gift from South America

Headband: Lemons & Lace

Watch: Juicy Couture

Necklace: Tiffany's

Outfit #2

I know you can't see the whole thing, but I wanted you to see this shirt! If you have grown up in Clarkston, you know how DTE Energy Music Theater will always be Pine Knob to you. I loved this when I saw it! I paired it with my maroon maxi skirt to dress it up for work.

Tshirt: Bonnie & Clyde (support your local businesses!)

Have a fabulous week! I am off to Hilton Head on Thursday to visit my brother! Can't wait to have some new backgrounds to model my outfits! :) XO, E

Linking up with: The Pleated Poppy, Content in the Meantime, Tucker Up - check out these adorable blogs!

KP's Monday Mode

Hello Hello!!!  Everyone have a great weekend? Hope so!!!  

Here are a few of my outfits from last week.  This adjustment of my photographer going to work before I am "ready for the day" has really been a challenge!  When he gets home I am in painting clothes or my comfy clothes (or I forget to have him take the pic)...We will figure out a better method soon.  I thought about asking random people I see throughout the day to take it...but prolly a bit strange? Ha!

Outfit #1

(I had just left Tanning Tuesday with the girls and stopped by a consignment on the way home...this was taken in my new mirror :-) )

Flip Flops:  Payless

Romper (used as a cover up):  Charlotte Russe 

Hat: Target

Wallet:  Target

Outfit #2

(Out to high tea with mom and sis)

Heels:  Payless

Shorts:  Boutique in Fenton (no longer in business :-( boo)

Belt: Forever 21

Tank:  Old Navy

Blazer:  Charlotte Russe

Necklace:  Creative Arts Studio (in RO)

Outfit #3

(Boppin' around doing some errands...we do not have air conditioning yet, so it was toooooo hot to do my hair!!!)

Sandals: Bakers

Dress:  Forever 21

Tank:  Old Navy

Hat: Anthropologie

Cross Body Purse:  Lil resale shop in GR

It was just too hot for accessories (besides my beloved K&M necklace)...

Well, that's all she wrote for the day!!  Hope you have a great start to your week!  Chat again Wednesday!!

XO, K

Friday ... so fabulous!

Today Kristin & I are talking consignment shop finds! We are frequent shoppers of the consignment. You can always find adorable, unique pieces for your home and they are often quite affordable! My consignment shop find comes from Digs Consignment Studio in Clarkston (they also have one in Waterford that is equally awesome!!). I bopped in the other day just to see what I could see (you have to do this every once in awhile because things change alllll the time!) and fell in love with this banner! It says "Hello Love" ... I brought it home, ironed it out, and it now hangs in our front window. Just adds the cutest little touch of character to our home! :) And I know I will have it for awhile. I think the next spot I move it to will be our bedroom. Love it's sweet message!

(kind of hard to see here, but that is where we hang it) 

Everyone enjoy your weekend!! Brandon and I have a free one and I couldn't be more excited! Maybe we'll go consigning?! XO, E

"Fabulous Finds" Friday Indeed!

Hi everyone!!  TGIF to ya!

My Fab Friday find is two fold today.  Not only did I FIND a fabulous item...but I found it at a NEW consignment called......FABULOUS FINDS!!!  How fun is that?!?!?  They just opened the first of June in downtown Holly...I just LOVE Holly :-)

I have been looking for a standing mirror forever and my first venture to Fabulous Finds, it was there waiting for me!  We haven't decided if we are going to chalk paint it or not or just leave it as is.  I think it looks perfect in its new home...the cloom :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!!  Mitch and I are off the super fun city of Grand Rapids!  Chat again on Monday!

XO, K

WW: Places to Save

Hi readers! Today we will be talking about places where we cut costs for our wedding. You will realize if you are just starting to plan a wedding that it is definitely important to cut where you can! So, we wanted to give you some ideas of places that we cut costs or saved money, without compromising the vibe and vision of our weddings!

1. Desserts: You've probably seen it all on Pinterest. You can make your own desserts and set up a dessert table, you can have a candy table that you set up, you can really seriously do whatever you want!

What Elyse did: For my wedding, we had cupcakes instead of cake. Brandon and I didn't even cut a cake, we just cut a cupcake in half and shared it. We actually didn't buy enough cupcakes for all of our guests because we didn't want to have any left over, so we bought cupcakes for about 1/2. Surprisingly, all of our cupcakes went ... but, we also had a sheet cake that my wedding planner brought out afterwards, so everyones dessert needs were fulfilled. Saved us money and everyone was happy!

What Kristin did: First of all, Mitch and I had a fabulously talented family friends make our cake.  I saw a picture of EXACTLY (I think on Pinterest) what I wanted and they recreated that vision to a T...so we were very lucky to have talented them!!  They cut our cost tremendously and we are sooooo very thankful!  Secondly, only the bottom layer of our four tiered cake was actual "cake"!  We had the exact same flavor, frosting and filling made into a few sheet cakes.  This really cut the cost (in addition to their generosity).

2. Reusing things from other brides/past weddings: Do not be afraid to reuse anything! There are tons of things out there on Craig's List, Ebay, garage sales, and websites that are available for people to use at their weddings, so don't be afraid to take that chance! Check out these sites for help! Weddingbee -- Trash to Treasure --  Project Wedding: Classifieds

What Elyse did: All of my mason jars (that we used as glasses) were reused from a prior wedding or given to us from people who do a lot of canning. We passed on our table numbers to Kristin. We made the chalkboards for our drink menus. And so much more!

What Kristin did: I purchased LED lights for almost half the original price from another bride. I was gifted some of the vases I used and "salvation armied/garage saled" the others.  Elyse gifted us half of our table numbers that we repainted and cut coupons (or received texts from JoAnn's/Michaels) like crazy.  I know what helped us both a lot was being patient, waiting for the coupons, and only buying things for less!!!!  For our seating chart, we only purchased the file and I had a family member print two 24" x 36" posters for me.  The frames I purchased from JoAnn's....half off AND 20% off of that!! SWEETNESS. I saved over $250 this way!! To display them, we borrowed an easel from a photography studio and found one in my grandparents attic!

3. Stocking the bar yourself: If this option is available, this is definitely something we suggest! It not only gives you the options on how much to spend, but you get to pick exactly what you are stocking it with!

What Elyse did: Brandon's parents so awesomely volunteered to stock our bar for us. Having a bar in their backyard was a perk because Brandon's dad was already friends with the owner of a liquor store. After some google-ing, we decided how much we thought we needed. The best part of this -- we could sell back anything we didn't use! So, this saves money in being a less of "by the person" cost, but more of an overall cost.

4. Getting married on a Friday or "off season": Another option that if it is available to you, we would totally suggest!

What Kristin did:  By getting married in April AND on a Friday we saved A TON!!!  What also helped was having the ceremony and reception at the same location.  Also, because Lafayette Grande is absolutely AMAZING when it comes to (everything...but specifically...) reasonable pricing, fabulous service and food we lucked out all around!

5.  Doing as much as you can on your own in the floral/centerpiece department:  Yes, this may be a big commitment, but with family and friend (OR Exceptionally Chic) support/help it helps A TON!!!

What Kristin did:  We ordered our flowers from Sam's club!  I found exactly what I wanted for some of my centerpieces on Weddingbee.com, and recreated that vision for MUCH less than if we had a florist do it...actually approx. $120 less PER centerpiece!!!!!  Florists were going to charge us $100 JUST FOR PUTTING THEM TOGETHER and delivery!!!  So, I found the vases (mentioned above), bouquet holders and flowers on my own!  Then we lucked out and found The Henk Studio (across from LG) that were willing to compile the flowers AND deliver to LG for more than a reasonable price!!  We just brought all the supplies to them and they did the rest!  We utilized the rest of the flowers from Sam's for the corsages, boutonnieres, and bridesmaids bouquets (thanks to my amazing mother!!! Mwah!!!).  Lastly, I made the flower girls bouquets out of paper flowers :-)

For the other centerpieces, I used curly willow (plucked from nature when spotted), white peacock feathers (donated from mother's friend), flowers from SAM's and the LED lights!!!

AAANNNNNDDDDD.....ONE last thing.... For the arch used at the ceremony, I found it at a church yard sale. We picked hydrangeas from a bestie's hydrangea bush and my mom's, dried them, and decorated the arch with them (cheap fabric and extra curly willow)!!!  The whole thing was $15! :-)

Well, there you have it!!  We understand that it may be a little more work to cut costs....but TOTALLY worth it in the end!!!!

Feel free to contact us with ANY questions!!

Happy Wednesday!

Xo, E & K

E's Monday Mode

Summer is hereeeee! And so are the days of skirts and skirts and more skirts. Here we go!

Outfit #1

(Confession: My new obsession is wearing maxi dresses and taking t-shirts and knotting them)

Dress: Nordstrom

Shirt: Forever 21 (made it's debut last week!)

Flops: DSW

Necklaces: Etsy & Forever 21

Outfit #2

(Confession #2: I just got out of the pool ... thus my hot mess of a top knot)

Shirt: Forever 21

Scarf: Etsy

Pants: Forever 21

Shoes: DSW

Watch: Nixon

Bracelet: Forever 21

Earrings: Charming Charlie

We had a teacher spirit week last week, so all of my outfits weren't that cool. I gave you a taste of my weekend outfits (from celebrating B's birthday and our Friday night date night!) Hope ya'll have a great week! Xo, E

KP's Monday Mode!!

Happy belated Father's Day to all of the wonderful fathers out there!! Hope everyone had a great weekend with their families!!

This past week was a lil weak in the fashion department... Mitch and I had a garage sale so I didn't have too many blog worthy outfits. So, I opologize in advance...

Outfit #1 

(Sorry about the close-up of the feet!!!...wanted you to see the detail in the shoes :-) )

Sandals:  Bakers

Shorts:  Charlotte Russe

Belt:  Forever 21

Tank:  Old Navy

Outfit #2

Heels:  Payless

Jeggings:  CAbi

Tank:  CAbi

High Low Tank:  Humanity Boutique 

Sorry for the lack of fashion this week...I'll make it up on next week's MM :-)

Have a great day!!

Xo, K

Fabulous Friday Find!!

Elyse and I decided to do a joint fab find today to showcase our sweet new phone cases.

It all started when a student came into my classroom and said, "Mrs. P, you remember these?? You used these when you were my age didn't you? Right before the cd's came out???".... I kept my comments to myself and said, "why on earth do you have a cassette tape?"

"It's not, it just looks like it. It's my new phone case! I got it online for super cheap!"

I had to have it! So, I went on amazon.com and purchased a five pack for $4.80!!!!!!

Elyse fell in love as well so here we are rocking our fab finds...

We have received so many compliments on these lil numbers so we thought we'd share will you :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Xo, E and K

Firmoo's June Styles

Attention! Rock Your Style with Firmoo June New Arrivals-Free for New Customers

By now you know that Kristin and I both wear glasses ... Kristin doesn't need them as often as I do, but we definitely use them to be fashion accessories, too! And we've told you once and we'll tell you again ... Firmoo has the cutest styles and SO many cute frames for their "first pair free" program right now!

Hi lovely readers! Just a quick note today that we want you to stay trendy this summer with Firmoo! Since, we all are waiting for actual nice, summer June, how about you head over to see what the Firmoo June collection has to offer? They just updated their new arrivals for June, and right now, they are available for Firmoo First-Pair-Free-Program. Now you may have the chance to get yours for FREE!

Looking for Geek Glasses?

If you care about fashion, you could never be unknown to the geek elements blended in many designs. Geek glasses are a must-have for you who want to look intelligent and unique. (Which is Elyse every day at her job)

Looking for Chic Tortoise Glasses?

This tortoise glasses collection features an intriguing collision between retro glasses styles and modern fashion. Luxury feel yet low-profile design, break limits and lines. We love the tortoise frame, it is SO unique!

If you're looking for something more subtle, you can go for a simple but always fashionable rectangular frame.

Rectangle glasses with small-sized frame of serious and scripted design add sharp angles to the soft curves of your face, making you look mature and attractive. My first three pairs of glasses were rectangular and I LOVED this shape!

Still not convinced that eyewear can be fashionable? It really can! Check out how some of these fashionistas style them:

(The above model photos are all derived from Firmoo+.)

New Customers, check more products for your first free pair at Firmoo right now! You just need to pay shipping. First come, first serve!! (Simply clicking "LUCKY DRAW" on this page, you may even get a totally free pair including shipping free!!)

I (Elyse) am FINALLLLLYYY on summer vacation and my first order of business is getting my first pair of Firmoos! Sooooo excited to finally be able to try these gorgeous glasses! And with so many cute options? How can you pass that up!

About Firmoo
Firmoo is the World's Most Popular Online Eyeglasses Store. We have always been committed ourselves to offering customers the best quality products at the most affordable prices which start at 8 dollars- 80%-90% lower compared to that in local store.

WW: DIY Table Numbers

Hello, lovelies! Today Kristin and I are talking about our DIY table numbers! If you have even looked at Pinterest, you will see there are gazillions of ways to do your table numbers. And, if you are planning to have your reception at a venue, chances are that they have generic table numbers already made that they would be willing to let you use. 

Kristin and I knew that we wanted to do SOMETHING for our table numbers, but that we also wanted to keep it simple. So, I went to Joann's every time I had some sort of coupon and would buy these numbers. They would also go on sale and when they did I would get as many as I could. I only had 27 tables, so once I got numbers 1-27 I was all good. I wanted to keep them very plain, so Brandon put a light stain on them and we just stood them up against the boxes that were my centerpieces. 

Kristin's venue, the Lafayette Grand's Crystal Ballroom, had 45 (!!!) tables of all different sizes (from 2-tops to 6-tops to maybe even a couple of 8-tops) so she had a lot more numbers than myself. Kristin took what she could of mine and then bought some more when they went on sale or with coupons. She didn't get the exact same numbers as me, but that made for a very unique look on the different tables. She painted them her Tiffany blue color and then glued them together so they didn't separate. She also stood them up on her vases. It ended up looking fabulous and we got to get a lot of use out of those numbers!

Moral of the story here? You can do a lot with a little. And if you are given the opportunity to have something passed down to you, you can definitely take it and put your own spin on it. There are lots of wedding websites where brides are selling things from their weddings, or even ebay/craig's list has a lot of used wedding pieces that could easily be a great addition to any wedding!

We've attached some pics so you can see what they looked like. Plus, we think it's fun to see them with different centerpieces. Enjoy! XO, E&K

(Another think you'll notice that is SUCH a necessity -- votive candles! They are such a romantic mood to the atmosphere ... we would HIGHLY recommend!) 

Elyse's wedding: 

Kristin's Wedding:

Elyse's photos courtesy of: Studio 6.23

Kristin's photos courtesy of: e.c. campbell photography