Wedding Wednesday: Getting Ready for Our Big Day!

I'm back! Hello and welcome to a long overdue Wedding Wednesday link up. First and foremost thank you to everyone for supporting me through the entire wedding planning and post wedding process. It's safe to say that I dropped off the blogging face of the planet for nearly three months but taking time away made me realize how much I love sharing my life with all of you. If you read my last post you know that I had some serious post wedding blues but I've worked through them with help of some amazing people and I ready to relive our wedding day with y'all.

If you haven't been following along with my wedding planning I encourage you to check out my other wedding posts on the wedding tab at the top of the page. I'll give everyone a quick refresher in the details of our day. We were married on October, 17th 2015...on "Sweetest Day" a holiday originating in Cleveland, Ohio where our nuptials took place. Our ceremony took place at Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church where Brian's parents were married and our reception was held at the Legend Lake Golf Club.

All of our beautiful wedding photos have trickled in and now it's time for me to share a few of our favorites with you. If you didn't take a look at our sneak peek  from our photographer's blog you can see it HERE. Almost all the ones she posted were high on our favorites list so I'll do my best not to share those again since everyone has already seen them. We'll start off with our favorite "getting ready" pictures. All the photos you see are courtesy of the amazing Arastasia Photography based in Beaufort, South Carolina. I wrote a post about her that you can read HERE.   

It's so unfair how quickly guys can get ready and look so handsome. Brian, his dad, the groomsmen, and the ushers got ready at one of the groomsmen's, Jesse, parents' house. It probably took them all of ten minutes to get dressed and ready before cracking open the first breakfast beers but that's fine by me. We were lucky enough to have a second photographer come and help out Stasia so that she could focus on being with us girls. Our second photographer's name is Amber Patrick and she is the definition of a rockstar...literally she photographs rockstars and is way too cool for her own good. She took the guy's getting ready photos and some candid shots throughout the morning and at our ceremony. She's based in Cleveland, Ohio and you can check her out at her page. 

No wedding ring...yet

This shot made it onto Amber's business cards 

 The best of friends and brothers

The Schiffbauer men all together

While the guys got to sleep in us girls begin our morning bright and early. Myself and my four bridesmaids and our ring bearer, William, arrived at Brian's Aunt Sandy's house to start getting ready at 7:30AM. Two stylists worked on the bridesmaids' hair and makeup while my best bud, Meg Workman, worked on my mom and I. My house party girls arrived to start getting ready at 8:30AM and helped each other get ready as well as got some makeup help from my cousin Bronwyn who was getting our flowergirls, Kate and Kiersten, ready. Champagne {and Iron City Light Mango} was flowing and breakfast was being eaten. I think everyone can agree that the cherry on top of the morning was when the Chick-fil-a nugget tray was brought by the lovely Debo and Juliann. It was so much fun to have all the girls together getting ready, I wish I could do it every weekend. 

Meg and I have been preparing for this "dress up" for 24 years

This is my MIL, Laura's favorite picture of me ever...pin curls and all

Bronwyn working her magic on Kacie

Had to get a picture of us all in our tops

Erin straightening out layers of tulle

I forgot the pillowcase I bought to put over my head while putting my dress on so I had to improvise with a David's Bridal bag lol.

It's on!

Love my beautiful dress hanger from Stacy and Erika

Walking downstairs to get ready for mt first look with all the ladies and William

Thank you for stopping by Former Kennedy and I hope you come back next Wednesday to see our "first look" photos. In the coming weeks I'll be sharing more photos of our wedding day as well as featuring some of my favorite vendors, my "how-to's", and my top Etsy shops who have so graciously given products for a giveaway for my readers! As always thanks for reading!

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Weekending in the CLE

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Mine was spent in Cleveland, Ohio jam packed with wedding tasks and visiting with friends. I'm linking up with Biana, here's my recap in photos...

If you read my post on Friday you saw that we got our marriage license! We also had our last meeting at the church with the priest who is marrying us. His name is Father Lou and he's just the best! Brian's parents met us at Saint Martin's and it was so special to have them there.

Only a few more weeks until we're standing here again!

On our way home we stopped by Gartman's Bakery to place our cupcake order. It was such a darling little shop and everything looked amazing, they even had pepperoni rolls! I loved these Ohio cookies, aren't they adorable?!

Later that night we visited with one of Brian's best friends growing up, Juliann. This was the first time I got to meet her in person but because of us texting all the time it felt like I was reuniting with an old friend. We got our baby fix with her beautiful son, Gage. Normally babies don't like me, I blame it on my strong dark features. Luckily her husband and his family have dark hair and eyes so baby Gage loved me. 

Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Brian's alma mater, Lake Erie College, to scope out some picture spots. The campus is so beautiful so it was quite a task narrowing down my favorite spots but here they are...

 Our "first look" location, weather permitting of course.

 Love this covered porch and the fact that it has rocking chairs.

I put Brian in charge of finding "rain day" picture locations and he did not disappoint! This social parlor was to die for, I loved it so much I decided to make this a location no matter what!

The music hall we originally wanted to get married before we decided to have a Catholic wedding. 

This is the building that Brian worked at as a GA. How cute?!

After our stroll around campus we went to the Amish shop that's doing our woodwork decor. They were so excited to do this and want photos so they can advertise that they make wedding decor. On our way home we stopped by the market where I needed to place my remaining flower order. I was completely wowed by the manager! She was beyond helpful and the flowers were gorgeous. I wish I would've been able to visit earlier because I would have order everything from her. 

Yes, that is Kale in the bottom right corner. Being a flower enthusiast I loved this palette. 

That afternoon my our bestie, Erika, drove up from West Virginia to spend the day with us. We introduced her to some wonderful local spots and then we ventured out downtown where I learned that I am no spring chicken anymore lol. 

Dining at Brian's former workplace, The Winking Lizard.

My brother-in-law in 26 days. 

At the grand opening of Punch Bowl Social. 

I had a blast this weekend and got so much accomplished. The next time we’re in Cleveland I’ll be running around getting everything prepared for the big day! As always, thanks for reading and don’t forget to stop by for Wedding Wednesday! What did y’all do this weekend? Comment below and tell me all about it J

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Oh Hey, Friday! [Best Week Ever]

Hooray for Friday! I'm so happy to be linking up with the ladies over at September F A R M and The Farmer's Wife for Oh, Hey, Friday! Here's a recap of the best week I've had since we moved to Atlanta.

If you follow me on Facebook you saw that last week I finally sold my beloved Heidi Honda. I had been looking for a new car for a couple months now and couldn't find something that felt like "me." I kept making excusing for buying a new car but once I sold mine I decided I wanted to have a car within the next week. We hit the dealerships all weekend, I test drove a bunch and dealt with more car salespeople than I'd like to. On Monday I called back the dealership where we got Brian's new Escape in March and she told me she found a car that had everything I wanted. She sent me a link and I feel in love. Right after work I went and signed the paper's for my new lady love Felicia Ford.

 And to answer your question...yes I do say, "bye Felicia!" whenever I walk away.

She has all the bells and whistles I've been dreaming about and a moon roof that became the cherry on top. Here's to having a beautiful car that has my back[up camera] and that I got completely on my own with 0% APR. #AdultWin

Tuesday I got the news I've been hoping for since we moved to Atlanta and was told I'm going to be brought on full time with my company. I've been working as a temp for the past year and completely feel in love with the company. I'm so excited to "officially" be an employee, more details to come later. For now here is my adorable congratulations gifts from Brian, he's just the sweetest.

Being a long distance friend to all my friends is a struggle sometimes. You both have to make the effort to stay active in each other’s lives and I feel like I’m pretty good at it most days. Wednesday was one of those days. After talking with a friend and knowing how down she’s been lately broke my heart but Frontier and Spirit airlines pieced it back together with $39 each way flights so for just under $80 roundtrip I was able to book a much needed girls trip over Halloween weekend! 

Thursday night after work we hopped on a flight to spend the weekend in Cleveland. I'm so happy to be able to tie up some loose ends up here before next month and that my bestie, Erika, is coming up from WV to see us!

Just win I thought things couldn't get happier, this morning we got our wedding license!

I'm off to enjoy LebronLand. I hope y'all have a great weekend! Any fun plans? Tell me about it and comment below :)

 

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