And Inside the Bridesmaid Totes...

Each bridesmaid received a handmade fleece blanket. 

As blankets go these were really easy to make! 

Go here to see the tutorial on how I made those over on my craft blog Truly Lovely.

Each lovely maid received a blanket in a fabric chosen especially for her...

All of the fleece fabrics were purchased from Joann's. 

Click the picture to visit the link. 

If there isn't a picture that means I couldn't find it again... perhaps it's sold out. 

Anyway....

Miss Kayli's was a pretty brown paisley print. 

Kayce's blanket was that fun zebra print in the top picture. 

Tracey got a wild rainbow colored cheetah print. 

Meghan Jo got a skull and cross bones with red roses print.

(Similar to the one below, but again the roses were red instead of purple.)

Charli's was a CUTE Scottie dog print like her little Schnauzer, Daisy.

And Megan got a pretty sunflowers on a blue background print.

So what do you think?? Good idea I hope! haha. I think the girls appreciated them. 

I thought they were the perfect gift for the cool mountain evening at our wedding venue. :)

Next up... What the little blue boxes on top are all about... 

Bridesmaid Tote Bags

To hold all the goodies for each of my bridesmaids and my hostess, I made each lovely lady a tote bag! 

I think they were a fun way to personalize each girls' gift without breaking the bank on a plain ol' initial tote from one of those wedding websites!

And I made them myself! Gotta say, I think 'handmade with love' is always better! ;)

Visit my craft blog, Truly Lovely today for a tutorial on how I made the totes!

A SPECIAL thanks to Bethani of Cheers, Bethani 

for the SUPER CUTE gift tags that are tied to each bag!!!

You can see she made the tags especially for me with the pink and turquoise colors of our wedding! Each is hand stamped with the words, "Handmade with Love". 

On the back of each tag I wrote to each bridesmaid from Kassi. 

They were the PERFECT extra little detail for each bridesmaid and hostess gift! 

Thanks again Bethani!!!

Check out her fun Etsy Shop for more gift tags, place cards, cupcake tags and more!

Stay tuned for more wedding recaps!!! 

Wedding Sneak Peak

Here's just a little sneak peak from our wedding day for you!!!

I hope to be back with some recaps and whatnot starting soon. 

My sister singing during the ceremony... I know. Tease tease. haha. 

Thanks again to all the AMAZING guest bloggers while I was away becoming Mrs. M. 

If you missed those posts, please go read them... 

There are some GREAT tips for brides to be plus lots more!!!

Alisha of All About Us

Monique of Oh Darling Bride

Rachael of Lovely Crafty Home

Wynn of Le Chic Wedding Boutique

Our Wedding Day

Bethani of Cheers, Bethani

Greta of NL Designs

Jamie of The Two Lovebirdies

Sara of First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage

In case you don't follow me on twitter, (in which case you would have already heard...)

married life is already AMAZING. 

The Mister vacuumed the other night and let me sleep in the next morning! :)

Then yesterday he stopped by my office with some candy and a soda. :)

Yep! That's why I married him!!! :)

The wedding was PERFECT!!! It all worked out better than I could have ever imagined!!

Can't wait to share all the lovely details with you all!!!

Wedding Week Guest Post - Sarah of First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage

For our final guest blogger in my wedding week away series, 

it is my pleasure to introduce you to 

Sarah of First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage. 

Her's was the first wedding blog I ever followed and read loyally. 

I honestly went back through all of her posts... And still do! 

Months after her wedding, she can still surprise you with an AMAZING wedding recap! :)

I'm honored to have Sarah here to share one of my favorite blog posts about love.

Sarah, and her hubby Rob

It's not Twilight

I have been reading Kassi's blog from the beginning and from the beginning I knew that she and Nate had a wonderful connection & relationship. Not only do they have almost everything in common (seriously!) but they truly are best friends...supporters..hold each other up-ers...and the kind of couple you know is already a loving family. When Kassi asked me to guest post, I was so honored. Below is one of my posts about love...a regular everyday Love- just like Kassi and Nate's. Congratulations!!

________________________

I haven't read Twilight or seen any of the movies... 
I do know that it's a big rock I am hiding under but I am kinda 
Meh about the whole phenomenon...

My venue twin, Katerina at Girl with a Ring , posted this blog and simply asked us 

"Is Bella-and-Edward-esque passion something to strive for or to avoid? 

What is the healthy middle ground?" 

I got to thinking and realized that my comment in her comment box was 
becoming a novel... so I starting writing on my own in hopes to explore that 
passion in the context of my relationship.

_____________________ 

That passion... the unrequited love, high drama, cant have it but cant live 
without it kind of energy... in my experience, that is a drug I happily avoid. 

That kind of "love" always builds me up and then destroys my soul...
as high as I am in the beginning it does not compare to the depth I have fallen 
when my insides are torn apart. 

A cycle of up and down and all around. 

My nature of the past was to seek out that drama- the angst- long term. 
Now- after a long time standing on my own- 
I have found a relationship with a man that three years later gives me 
a different kind of weak knees. 
I have found a solid partner. 
Someone who will lift me up when I am weak. 
Reminding me the whole time how to find my strength on my own. 
A dependable man that I am over the moon attracted to. 
Granted, every relationship has that part in the beginning, us included. 
the butterflies. the roller coaster of emotions. 
Maybe we even had it more so than other couples. 
But over time we decided we couldn't live in "that" passion any more. 
We took the topsy turvy drama of newness and turned it into a 
quiet passion...the kind where, 
when I look at him I know he will be the father of my children, 
the provider for our home, and loyal till I drift into the dark. 
I know that when we argue, we will make up. I know that when I'm sick, 
he'll bring home take out or make me tortellini soup the way my mom used to. 
I trust.
Trust is new for me. I have faith. 
I know that if I don't look good in an outfit, he will recommend something
else before I leave the house.  
(And he is brave enough to recommend it to me even if I'll feel 
bummed that I didn't look good in the first place) 
I close my eyes and know that one day, 
I will need him to help me with the not so glamorous stuff..
the rug pulled out from under us stuff that will come our way over the next 60 years. 
I know that some nights we will fall asleep laughing because someone farted. 
I know that some nights we will fall asleep crying because someone died. 
It is the kind of Love where I know that he knows my every worst quality...
and still says to himself..."yup that's ok with me". And I feel the same. 
It's not a Danielle Steele novel. It's not Shakespeare. And it's not Twilight.
It's more like "Up." It is committed Love. Decided love. 

Every day, thanks for doing the dishes and taking out the trash, Love.

                                   

                                                                                                      Source

Beautiful, right!!! Thank you Sarah!!! I love Sarah's writing. 

And all of my guest bloggers' writing! 

Thanks again to all who contributed while I was off marrying my Mister!!! 

I have recaps of items I made for the wedding, starting tomorrow!!

So please continue to stick around... ;)

Wedding Week Guest Post - Jamie of The Two Lovebirdies

 Hello lovelies! Today's wedding week guest poster is a sweet bloggie friend! 

The lovely Jamie of The Two Lovebirdies!!

Cute blog name right!?!?

She's going to tell you the biggest wedding secret that will make your day perfect!!

Oooh!!! Read on friends! :)

And please leave Jamie some bloggie lovin'! 

Here's Jamie!!!

Hi friends! I’m Jamie from The Two Lovebirdies and I’m thrilled to fill in some space for the sweetheart Kassi as she enjoys the buildup of her big day.

I married a foreigner. My husband Shehan is from Sri Lanka. Yeah. That tiny island below India is a gorgeous, vibrant country. I learned that.

We were engaged in April of 2009 with a gorgeous wedding in October of that same year.

It is so easy to get caught up in the perfection of your wedding day. What bride doesn’t want everyone to be happy, everyone to look perfect and every guest to gasp as he/she enters the reception? I had to make some serious decisions. The first was: I will enjoy my wedding day – no matter what. Laughter doesn’t cause makeup to run – tears do. Only tears of joy were invited that day. My other choice was to narrow down what I wanted most.

I knew exactly what that was. Beautiful memories. The very best way to keep the very best memories? A super talented photographer.

My photographer was the brilliant and lovely Dani Harding of Captured. By Dani Em who covers all of northern Utah and southern Idaho.

I have enjoyed her photographs of my beautiful marriage every single day.

Not only did I get unforgettable photo moments, I gained a new friend in Dani. I placed all the trust I could muster in her and she didn’t let me down.

I encourage every bride to go with the flow on her day – to pick one to three things you want most and be thrilled if only one goes as planned. You’ll have more opportunities to laugh, love and live a little. That’s the secret girls. Pick what you want most. Run with that.

For more info on how I pulled my wedding off in $6,000 see this post.

Didn't her pictures turn out just gorgeous! Looks like she chose well! :)  

Thanks Jamie for sharing the secret with us!!!

We've got one more wedding week guest poster stopping by to wrap things up tomorrow! 

Then I'll be back with some wedding day recaps! :)

Have a lovely day friends!!!

Wedding Week Guest Post - Greta of NL Designs

Happy Monday sweet friends!!!

Continuing my wedding week guest post series is the SUPER sweet Miss Greta of NL Designs!

She has SOME FUN thrifty wedding ideas to share with us today as well as a lovely wedding shop you should DEFINITELY check out! :)

I'm surely still recouping from an AMAZING wedding weekend, so please say hello to Greta while I'm on my wedding break! :)

Thanks!!!


Here's Greta!!!

Hello My Road to Mrs readers!  My name is Greta and I'm the girl behind NL Designs [northwoodsloves]! My wedding is all weddings, all the time! Just a little information about me:

1. We're secretly planning our own wedding right now [shhh!]

2. I dream about weddings and blogging about them!

3. I'm a DIYer so you better believe I will have everything done on my own!

4. I LOVE Wisconsin, so that's the inspiration behind my blog/shop name!

I'm so excited to be guest blogging for you today!!! I've decided to give you a little taste of what I blog about over at [NL Designs]! I do inspiration boards, show real weddings and do an etsy shop show off. I love being able to share what inspires me with my readers. I even created a page to show you what I have found that [inspires me for my own wedding]!

Today I want to share with you an inspiration board of DIY projects that you can use at your own wedding for very little money!

[photos source]

Hope you have enjoyed! Do you have any DIY ideas you would like to share?

Another fun thing I would like to share is that on June 1st, I launched a wedding shop! If you aren't a DIY bride, you should check it out! I custom make whatever you like!

Here's some links for you!
NL Designs [blog]
NL Designs [shop]
Confessions [blog]
NorthwoodsLoves [Twitter]
NorthwoodsLoves [Facebook]

Thanks again Greta!!! 

Hope you all are enjoying my AWESOME wedding week guest posters!!!

I'll be back soon with some wedding recaps!! :)

Wedding Week Guest Post - Bethani of Cheers, Bethani

By the time you are reading this, we will be MARRIED!!!
Kassi and Mr. M will be Mr. AND Mrs. M!!! 

AS of yesterday of course! ;) 

As I continue my wedding week vacation from blogging...
I have a very good bloggie friend stopping by for a wedding week guest post today!

Miss Bethani of Cheers, Bethani!!!

She is a recently married lovely with a fabulous Etsy shop! 

Today she has some day of the wedding tips to share with us!!!

Please be sure to leave her some bloggie love friends! :)

Here's Bethani!!!

Hey everyone!  First of all I want to congratulate Kassi on the nuptials and hope nothing but the best for her and the groom! I’m so glad she has allowed me the opportunity to be a guest poster on her blog, and of all things, let me talk wedding talk.

The mister and I have been married little over a month (crazy I know!) and I couldn’t be happier.  We got married on April 30 in a quaint little country town with all our friends and family around. While the planning of any wedding can be extremely stressful and leaving everyone totally drained by the big day, there are a few bits of advice that I gathered from my day and the days, hours, minutes and seconds leading up to walking down the aisle that I hope I can pass on to brides to be, so they are able to focus all the attention on having the best day of their lives.  Your day will be a total blur, flashing before your very eyes, leaving you to think, “What just happened?!”

1. ) Eat!  Seriously!  
I know eating is the last thing most people think about, because they are running around like mad people, setting up, getting ready and basically freaking out.  Plus the butterflies and the nerves don’t help anything either.  But really, this is the simplest thing. Eat your meals as regularly as possible leading up to the big moment.  Even if it’s a snack, it’s something.  The worst thing is walking down the aisle, feeling flush, and then feeling like you are going to pass out while standing up there – no bride wants to pass out in front of everyone.  Also, during the reception, make sure you and your groom take that time to have your first meal together as husband and wife.  It really is the best moment, sitting there, taking it all in, and just eating together.  It may not seem like much now, but it’s nice to have that one “special” moment together, before all the dancing and partying begins.

       2.) Breathe! 
I learned this the day of.  So many people want to come in your room beforehand. They want to take pictures, and chit chat and hug you, blah blah blah.  

But this moment is all about you and your groom.   

It’s like a zoo!  Take time to just sit there with your eyes closed for just a few moments, with no one else around and breathe, deep breaths. It makes the world seem calm for just a few

             moments and allows you  to focus on all the important parts of getting ready & what’s about to happen in your life, this major commitment. Plus it gives you a minute to think about if you forgot anything super important, like a marriage license, or rings.

        3.) Don’t worry about the small things, no one will notice.  
I distinctly remember forgetting to wear my earrings during the pre ceremony photos.  After all that time searching for jewelry, I forgot to wear my earrings.  But no one noticed and the pictures turned out great.  No one notices if you forget your cake topper or you forget the toast.  No one notices the stuff we usually fret so much about.  So if it happens, just keep going, and don’t allow it to ruin your day.

       

         4.) Have fun!  
You’re probably thinking, duh I know that! But really, have the most fun you possibly can, because this is it folks.  I can’t tell you how much fun I had at my wedding.  I let all my guards down and just had fun.  I danced more than I ever danced in my life, and I

               can’t dance, and we had the best time ever with everyone else around living it up with us. We goofed off and partied like it was nobody’s

               business, and I  don’t regret a single moment of silliness.  You can’t get this moment back. Its happened and now it just a memory. I’m glad mine happened the way they did.  

You don’t want regrets or what ifs about your wedding.

Bethani and her hubby!!!! 

So those are my tips, well the most important ones that I can think of. I hope all of you that are getting married soon or planning to get married in the future, can take the little tidbits and put them to use on your big day, so your day can be the best day of you lives.

Thanks again to Kassi for letting guest post, and I hope she has the most AMAZING day of her life!

Cheers,

Bethani

cheersbethani.etsy.com

Thanks SO much Bethani, for sharing some AWESOME wedding day tips!!!

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend!!!

Today is our WEDDING DAY!!!

In a few hours I will be walking down the aisle to marry my Mr. M. :)

 I just want to say THANK you to everyone who has stuck with me (and us) through this whole wedding process! 

Thanks for all the well wishes when we had to move our wedding day!

Thanks for all the sweet comments on all of my crazy wedding ideas! 

 And thanks much to my wedding week guest posters!

Those so far have been fabulous and there's even more to come!!

WE are TRULY blessed with the BEST family and friends. And now bloggie friends. 

So a special thanks to those that have followed along with My Road to Mrs. 

I'll be back in a few days with some wedding recaps and can't wait to tell you all about it!

Thanks!

And to my Mr. M... I can't wait to marry you. Love you more than anything!
Only yours and yours forever,