Branford House RW: Tony Spinelli Photography

This weekend, Ant and I are going to our first wedding as a married couple!!! Our friends Rish and Karissa are getting married in Groveland Ma.  Things have been so busy settling down after our own wedding, it will be nice to spend the weekend away with all of our friends from school.  It will ALSO be wonderful to get to enjoy a wedding again just as a guest! And eat and drink and dance the night away :)

While I am packing for the weekend, I thought I would leave you with another Branford House RW from this summer.  You know me - even though I'm done planning my wedding I can't get enough of wedding photography! and I love to see how differently brides utilize the same space I did.

I still haven't really gotten into all of the details of my wedding flower experience with you yet, but this bride's bouquet makes my new bouquet loving heart oh so happy.  I also love her grey mix and match bridesmaids dresses - and her headpiece!  Oh I just LOVE her headpiece.  I didn't post any good pictures of it though...to see the rest you'll have to view the entire post here!!

xoxo

The Little Things: Cake Stand!

Okay, so when you are planning a wedding there are soooo many checklists you can use to help you make sure you take care of everything you can possibly think of.  and then! There are a million other "little things" that pop up that weren't on any lists....

One of the smaller details about the wedding I definitely waited until last minute on was the cake stand.  I knew we had to provide our own, but I just put it on the back burner and didn't go back to it until about a month or so before!  I knew I wanted it to be simple and white, and we had been told it would need to be 14"...easy enough!

Here is some inspiration for the general idea of what we were going for....

When I started looking online, I found that a wayyy more common size was 12" - so most "normal" stores where I might have looked were off limits.  So I went to Etsy!  Etsy has TONS of beautiful options if you are in the market for a unique and pretty cake stand.  However, if we're being honest, they were also way more than what I was looking to spend.  Yes - I care what it looks like, but ultimately it's going to hold the cake for a couple of pics, then get stored in a closet somewhere....so unfortunately, I just couldn't justify spending $100 or more on one!  

A few more google searches later - I found Horchow! Their quilted cake plate is perfect - short and white and $48!  They also happen to run a TON of sales, so I was able to purchase it for $46, including shipping!!

It looked so simple and pretty with our adorable cake on top of it!  Mission accomplished :)

Wise Guys: the rest of the details

Getting back to my favorite gentlemen...

I filled you in on the guys suits back in this post. For the rest of the guy's outfits, we kept it simple.  We found a tie at JCrew Factory that was on sale for less than $20 including shipping! {you can actually still purchase it here, if you're interested!}

For the rest of their outfit, we asked that they wear a brown belt, brown dress shoes and a light blue dress shirt - whatever they already owned was fine!  I wanted to keep it super easy - rather than worrying about everyone going out and getting the exact same shade of browns and blues.  I love the way it turned out!  The boys look sharp, but not overdressed - perfect for the beautiful summer day we had!  

Ant coordinated with them, wearing the same suit but a white shirt and a plain navy tie.  We decided the white shirt/navy tie combination would be a slightly dressier look - more appropriate for the groom! I love that he stands out just a little bit from the rest of the guys!

As you may or may not have noticed - the groomsmen did not wear any sort of boutonniere.  To be honest with you, that was not even a topic of conversation for us!  I brought it up briefly before I went to start visiting florists and Ant said no - that boutonniere's felt too much like prom to him.  So there ya go!

Looking back, I'm really happy with his decision.  I think it makes images like this one even more classic.  No flowers, no veil, just us.

140 Lakeside: The Walls

Creative post title, eh?

Okay, so after the CRAZY productive day Ant and I just had, I thought a post that was equal parts wedding and house related was only appropriate!  As you know from this post, Thursday 9/11/14 was our one year anniversary with our little black cape.  Today, Ant and I had the day off and decided to finally catch up on a lot of little things that we had been meaning to do around the house.  This included painting our bathroom {finally! YAY!!!!} and hanging up a number of new pieces of artwork/decor that we have received over the last few months.

We are SO crazy lucky to have talented and thoughtful friends and family.  We have received a number of beautiful additions to our home as engagement and wedding gifts over the last year - and today I am SO excited to say that they officially all have homes in our home :)  so I thought I would share them all with you!!!

I'm posting them in no particular order...

Branford House Painting:  This is one of my absolute favorite wedding gifts! It came from one of my bridesmaids Brittni and her fiancé Stephen.  Brittni's grandmother (Tootie!) paints landscapes...and painted this one specifically for Ant and I.  Her and Brit went to the Branford House and took pictures along the coastline at Avery Point.  From those pictures, she made this for us. When we started looking at wedding venues, one of the most important things to me was that we were on the coast.  This painting is the perfect reminder of the beautiful place that we chose to get married.

Wedding Guestbook:  Our wedding "guestbook" was this print made for us by Sarah Ku on Etsy.  The quote, "Love is friendship caught fire" is a favorite of mine, that perfectly describes Ant and I.  I knew I wanted it incorporated in our wedding day in some way, and I couldn't be more happy with the final product!  The print is simple and sweet, and we love having all the notes people wrote us out on display in our home. 

Engagement Photo Canvas:  Eeeek!  Besides my flowers, one of the first things {or people} to make me tear up on our wedding day was my photographer.  When she first showed up at the Branford House she brought me this beautiful canvas of one of our absolute favorite shots from our engagement pictures!!  It was the perfect addition to our bedroom, which is still a major work in progress...

Wedding Date CT Print:  At our bridal shower, I received this adorable framed print, that was also the perfect addition to our bedroom!  It is a map of CT, with our wedding date and a heart over the city where our wedding took place.  It now hangs directly over our bed, along with a collection of matching frames {we haven't filled all of them yet - we are saving some for wedding pics!}

Lucky:  My insanely talented bridesmaid and older sister Kristin made this Lucky canvas for us as an engagement gift.  "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait is our song - and was our first dance as husband and wife.

Maine painting:  This painting was another engagement gift.  Tommy Adkins is a close family friend, who has paintings in galleries throughout New England.  He is currently showing art in the local gallery on the Guilford green!  This painting is of the coast of Maine, where Ant's family has vacationed with the Adkins' family for years.

Love Lives Here:  Our "love lives here" print was an engagement/housewarming gift from friends of ours.  It has pretty much lived on our mantle since we got it - and became a part of our gallery wall when we finally finished it!!

Cohasset Harbor clock:  My aunt Meredith gave us this clock of Cohasset Harbor along with our wedding presents.  It came from my grandparent's house, and is probably one of the most meaningful addition to our home.  It is a small and simple daily reminder of my grandparents.

Tewksbury/Mascia sign:  Our wedding gift from my sister Sara!!!  I LOVE this sign.  It is perfect - I love that it is different than most similar signs and includes both of our last names - it shows our wedding date and the true coming together of two families.  It also just so happens to perfectly match the colors in our living room, and fit oh so nicely in our built in shelves ;)

I love the huge role our friends and family have had in helping make our house a home!  and I REALLY love that we finally got everything hung up - rather than piled up in various corners of our house!!! Did you receive any personalized wedding gifts for your home??  Send me a link or a pic - I'd love to see them!

xoxo

140 Lakeside

A year ago today, Ant and I closed on our first home.  It was exciting and scary - and we have done a lot of learning over the last year as new homeowners.  Between wedding planning and house projects, there hasn't been a lot of down time, and I can't wait to share some of the projects with you!  We love our little black cape, and there was no better feeling than returning from the honeymoon as husband and wife, and having a home to come back to.  Today I'm sharing a walk down memory lane of sorts, a few of my favorite memories of moves/projects/changes {and messes!} in the house over the last year...  Enjoy!!

9/11/14 - 140 Lakeside 

xoxo