give it away, give it away, give it away now!

hi guys! we love Christmas time with all of its twinkly lights and decor, the smell of fresh pine needles, holiday coffee cups and the blow up santa's and nativity scenes in so many neighborhoods we walk through each morning (beckett's absolute favorite as evidenced below)!

 but mainly we love how it's truly the season of giving.  this year has been especially fun teaching beckett about kindness and how good it feels to give to others.  we've been loving the downloadable advent calendar we purchased from Emily Ley.  the daily 'Random Acts of Kindness' that are included have been an awesome (and tangible) way for me to help beck really understand what this season is all about. and you guys- all the proceeds from the calendars are helping to fund the cystinosis research foundation.  to date she has raised nearly $10,000! click on the above link for more information. 

so we want to give away fun things in the shop to you all too!  we've teamed up with a few special friends to give away an assortment of goodies over the next two weeks. first up is Southern Weddings who we just can't get enough of... head over to their site and enter to win 5 monogrammed bouquet ribbons from us.  one lucky winner will be able to customize them for her bridal party or fun gifts for their monogrammed loving friends & family. yay! be sure to check back later this week and next for our other giveaways. 

happy holidays to you and yours!

xx

thanksgiving weekend shenanigans.

couldn't help but post this picture. are they not the cutest?!

I still need to do a post to thank everyone who has helped get oatmeal lace where it is today but since that is taking me awhile to 'word' I wanted to at least wish everyone happy holidays! hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and holy moly- can you believe it's december first tomorrow?! 

can you tell beckett was excited about turkey day??

we hosted our first thanksgiving for family at our house this year. pleased to say that it turned out awesome. thank goodness for my mom who helped me cook everything. joey actually got a turkey to carve and not just a precooked breast from honey baked ham...

 so I'm sharing a few photos from the weekend here for posterity (and so they don't get lost on my iPhone)

 decorated my first holiday table that people actually sat at which is exciting. :) beckett's little red turkey was the highlight. i'm definitely going to be the mom that keeps EVERYTHING their child makes. not sure that would be considered sentimental or scary...

we decided to put up lights this year on the outside of the house since beckett is so into everything christmas related these days. I found the old school colored lights at target and couldn't wait to get them up. pretty proud of us for getting this done during one of becketts naps. they look AWESOME all lit up.

I am super excited to teach beckett our family traditions now that he is aware and understands (for the most past) what is going on.  I totally get why Christmas time is so much fun with little kids. makes me really excited for the next 6-8 years with him. :):) anyone have fun traditions to share that you do with your family? I'll be sharing the ones we are incorporating in the next couple of weeks. 

brand new oatmeal lace!

if you follow me on instagram or facebook you've seen hints that we've been up to something over here behind the scenes.  well TOMORROW we are unveiling the brand new Oatmeal Lace.  i'm so so excited to show you all the new site, brand and products, and would love to hear what you think once it's live.  

we'll be launching our ready to wear collection that you'll be able to purchase directly from the Oatmeal Lace site.  all items there will be available for pre-order and will have guaranteed delivery by Christmas in the USA.  and don't worry- etsy will remain the same and still be the go to spot for all custom orders (bridal, baby, just because...).

hooray! check back soon for my list of thank you's and high fives. :)

xx

{photo courtesy of Shay Cochrane}

pretty bag photos!

love love love opening up emails from past brides with bag shots from their wedding day. honestly I love any shots that they choose to share because it is so fun to see just how different everyone's big day turns out, but I get extra excited when I realize I get another fun photo to add to my portfolio.

hooray!  thank you so much for sharing, dagmara! xx

all photos courtesy of cheryl clarke photography

october is here! hooray!

anyone else love october? we were out of town for the past couple of weeks celebrating my sister's wedding in sun valley, idaho and when we got back to our neighborhood everyone had started decorating for halloween and the temperature had dropped to a super pleasant 75 degrees. ahhhhh.

october is pretty much the earliest anything 'fall' like happens in florida which makes this girl happy!  plus it brings halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays. fun decorations and candy galore...yes!!

before beckett we threw some pretty fun halloween parties, but the past couple years have been a little more tame. i've been concentrating more on great group costumes for the three of us to dress up in.  I know this has little to do with my business but i'm drawing a blank this year and could use some help.

to recap:

::2011::

mary, joseph & baby jesus.  

(for those of you who do not know, my real name is mary and my husbands name is joseph, so...)

::2012:

Run DMC. best ever.

it all stemmed from buying beckett his first adidas tracksuit. 

 he and his friends lily and brady are the cutest!! can't wait to get an updated photo of these three this year.

so anyone have a suggestion for what the three of us can dress up as this year? i've found lots of group costumes that could be fun but require at least 1-2 more people. thanks loves!!

mommy guilt

don't really post a whole lot of 'mom' stuff over here but this article really hit home today. thanks to FB for the share and so glad I stumbled across this blog.

love yourself and love your kids. at the end of the day that's all that really matters. 

:: no one is super mom :: 

you said it, michelle.

jenny & matt, the barns at wesleyan hills wedding

ok! fall is quickly approaching and one of my goals is to bring back my weekly bride features.  luckily I have a few waiting in the wings (patiently) and am finally getting my act together and getting them up!

first off is jenny! she and her husband matt were married in middleton, connecticut at a beautiful old barn.  you guys should know by now how I love all things rustic. if pinterest had been around when I got engaged I'm pretty sure my boards would've been filled to the brim with venue pictures of rustic old barn buildings. :)

jenny was gracious enough to share some of the details so hope you enjoy!

It all started 8 years ago when my now husband and I met at the insistence of our young matchmakers (his younger brother and my younger sister).  After a perfect proposal on June 26, 2012, the meticulous planning began (literally, I booked the venue 24 hours later!).  The vision I had for my wedding was a rustic old barn.  After a full day of phone calls I had booked July 26, 2013 at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills in Middleton, CT.  It was not only beautiful but had air conditioning!  A huge plus considering my midsummer date.

I loved the idea of using neutrals and burlap to make for a rustic but romantic feel. I knew from the start I wanted a simple lace dress with a keyhole. After searching through all the dresses in my price range, a keyhole was nowhere to be found. So I bought a strapless lace dress that fit perfectly right off the rack and had my AMAZING seamstress cut off the train and use the lace from the train to construct a keyhole. The result was more than I could have imagined.  

I went a little untraditional and chose to carry a colorful bouquet and to have my bridesmaids carry cream. I wanted the flowers to stand out and with their dresses being coral I thought a more neutral bouquet would be best. 

The ceremony took place outside after day full of rain but luckily turned into the most beautiful 75 degree day I could have imagined moments before the ceremony was about to start. We wrote our own vows and had a family friend perform the ceremony.

For the centerpieces, I bought a ton of old antique vases of varying heights and sizes and colors and my florist put an eclectic mix of neutral flowers in them, each a little different than the next. I found an old 18 pane window at an antique shop and wrote everyone’s names and table numbers on the different panes. 

love when brides get a picture of their clutches in use on the big day. thanks so much for the photo, jenny!! :)

My husband works for Pepsi so our favors were an old glass Pepsi bottle with a homemade chocolate chip cookie- a great midnight snack! 

 your day looked amazing, jenny! thanks so much for sharing it with us and congratulations to you both!

xx

{all photos courtesy of jeffrey barnes photography}

happy birthday, america!!

love this country and love all of you! 20% off orders placed in the shop today through the weekend.  use code 'merica' when checking out. now i'm off to eat a hotdog and drink an ice cold coca-cola. :)

spring giveaway!!!

so we haven't done a blog post in awhile (or a giveaway this entire year!!!) so hooray! we've partnered up with lovely little details to offer up an amazing bridal party gift of 4 (FOUR!!!) custom clutches to one lucky lady.  please go check out jacin's blog (I want to get remarried every time I visit and see the phenomenal things she does for her brides) and swoon over all the loveliness while finding out how to enter the giveaway!!!

march madness.

and no, my post title is not referring to the college basketball tournament.  :)

through the end of the month I'm offering free monogramming services on any purchase made in the shop over $30.  choose from the styles below, or if you want a single letter or name that works too!

so take advantage and personalize fun gifts for your friends, family or yourself, for free!

xx

the photo that started it all...

so fridays are dedicated to real weddings and/or tutorials or some sort.  I didn't have a new submission for weddings this week (SEND SOME IN, LADIES!!!) and I didn't finish my tutorial, so thought I'd share a bit from my own wedding.  the photo that started this whole business (above) was taken that day and it was the best day of my life outside of the day beckett joined our family. hope you enjoy! 

my dad found all the wood and handmade the signs that were placed throughout the grounds.

I loved my bouquet. my florist rocked.

they didn't realize their hands and feet would become almost famous. :)

we incorporated a wine/letter ritual during the ceremony.  changing it up a bit from traditional wine ceremonies (that I researched ad nauseum), we each placed a letter in and then as our parents came up the aisle, they placed one in as well.  I hope we make it to our 25th anniversary before opening the box. the wine may be spoiled by then, but the letters; they're priceless.

if you were wondering about my choice of shoes : I went with rainbows. it was a good decision.

our friend kevin's signature wedding move. he goes backwards too!

our wedding was a lot of fun. hence all the dancing photos (and I'm not even a dancer!!!)

matt & reagan were awesome enough to follow us over to FSU (where I went to college) after the reception ended and take a photo of us all in front of westcott fountain. it's one of my favorites from the day and I have it blown up on a canvas in our house. makes me smile every time I walk by. :)

and one last thing just for fun. if you're on the fence about getting a photobooth/smilebooth. DO IT! :)

{all photos by the amazingly talented matt miller of our labor of love & his rad assistant, reagan powell of west destiny drive photography}