Happy Halloween + Five on Friday

1. Who's going out for Halloween tonight? Me, me, me! Stay safe by taking an Uber. This is mine and my husbands favorite form of transportation (available in 45 countries and countless cities so you better bet we use it when we travel!). It's convenient, safe, and cheaper than a regular cab. First follow my personal invite, here, to receive your first ride FREE! After signing up all you have to do is pull the app up on your phone when you need a ride. Once you call your car, you can watch on your phone as it arrives to where you are. Don't worry about having cash or a card on you because when your ride is done, it'll all be taken care of through the app. You can even see all of your past rides and rate the drivers. Love, love, love!

2. This morning I whipped together some pumpkin dip for Jon's family's Halloween party later this evening. I got this recipe from Carolina Charm and it took about 10 minutes to throw together so if you're attending a party tonight or just hosting something for the kids and have nothing to make, consider this! All you need is: 15 oz can of pumpkin, 5 oz instant vanilla pudding (just the mix don't actually make the pudding), 16 oz cool whip, 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tbsp cinnamon. Mix everything together except for the cinnamon and put in the fridge to cool. Then top with cinnamon and serve with nilla wafers and graham crackers!

3. Just a friendly reminder for those of you who have pets...

4. Operation *Christmas Card 2014 Photo shoot* will be going down soon. I have a vision in my head and I can't wait to see it come to life. Fingers crossed that my dogs decide to cooperate... Something tells me that pit bulls in scarves and sweaters posing perfectly toward the camera just isn't going to work. But hey I'm gonna try!

5. Monday morning I will be teaming up with Oh My Gosh Beck and a few other bloggers to bring you a Michael Kors gift card giveaway!!! So don't forget to check back here for your chance to enter.

Joining these link ups...

XoXo

Last Minute Halloween Costumes

Have a denim or blue collared shirt? And what about a red bandanna? Throw your hair up and put on some red lipstick and you easily have yourself a great costume.

Men: go grab a roll of brawny paper towels from the store and pull out that red button down out of the closet. Easy peasy!

Everyone has a white t-shirt, right? Do you have a white apron too? Be Flo from the Progressive commercials :)

Light powder, red lipstick, and black eye make up is all you need to be a mime. Put your hair in a bun. A black hat, white gloves, and black and white striped shirt would complete the costume but not necessary.

Pregnant? This idea comes from CarolinaCharm. If you have some black fabric scraps laying around you could easily put this together in less than 10 minutes!

XoXo

Wedding Wednesday, The Ceremony

Jon and I did not do a first look. I love looking at pictures of other couples who have done it but it's not what I wanted. I wanted Jon to see me for the first time as I was walking down the aisle to him. I wanted to lock eyes with him. And that's exactly what we did... or what I tried to do. My eyes were filled with tears. You see I'm pretty much an emotional mess. I'm the kind of person who cries when I see someone else cry. 

{The view walking into the ceremony}

{Our unity candle table}

{The memory table- full of photos of loved ones who have passed}

{My sweet cousins handed out the programs}

{Jon's niece, Emma greeting guests}

My dad, bridesmaids, and I waited in a room while the groomsmen escorted the mothers and our Pastor made a very warm welcome for our guests. One of my sisters was joking around and started asking who thought my dad would cry. I looked over at my dad and he had his head in his hands... I thought he was joking and acting like he was crying. We were all wrong... he had tears in his eyes and soon enough all of us girls got worked up too. We started wrapping tissues around the handles of our bouquets so we would have them during the ceremony. I was already nervous and running on adrenalin. My wedding coordinator took the bridesmaids to line up and my dad and I were left in the room alone. It was a special moment I'll never forget but it left me emotional to walk down the aisle.  Before I knew it they were motioning for my dad and I to start walking so we did and I fought back the tears all the way down the aisle. And all I have is pictures with an ugly cry face to show for it haha at least I can laugh about it, right!?

{Ring bearer pillow and bouquets set up in the room for us}

{Jon and our Pastor}

{Jon's brother and best man escorting his mother}

{My mom and Jon's mom lighting the unity candle}

{Angelena, my best friend and bridesmaid}

{Lauren, Jon's sister and bridesmaid}

{Brandy, my sister and bridesmaid}

{Jessica, my sister and maid of honor}

{Logan, Jon's nephew and ring bearer and Londin, my niece and junior bridesmaid}

{Can you see the ugly cry face?}

{My dad giving me away}

To be honest it's all a blur to me. All I remember is holding Jon's hands, sitting towards our guests as our Pastor preached, Jon's aunt and my cousin did very touching readings, we lit our unity candle, and then it was time to say our vows. I took those very seriously (obviously) and I wanted to make sure that Jon could feel each word I said to him in that moment. And so the water works made an appearance again. But I quickly recovered and was able to say all of my vows clearly. Next was a prayer, the rings were on, and we were walking out as husband and wife.

{Bridesmaids}

{Groomsmen}

{Our Pastor preaching}

{Jon's Aunt Gloria with the first reading}

{My cousin Kristin with the second reading}

{Unity candle ceremony}

{Exchanging of the rings}

{Praying. Probably my favorite picture}

{We are now husband and wife!}

Finally a sigh of relief! I felt like I could finally relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. To the porch we went for a champagne toast and hors d'oeuvres with our bridal party! Stay tuned because next week I'll share all about our picture session during cocktail hour :)

XoXo