That’s right. The grandmother-lode. 
All of these fantastically brightly colored flower pins are from the jewelry box of my grandmother, aka Mimi. I had NO clue she had so many items that would be perfect for my vintage jewelry bouquet!
There’s a lot to take in and enjoy in the photo above, so this is a short post. Enjoy!
Just look at these two beautiful new pieces for my vintage brooch bouquet! Aren’t they beautiful!? These two pins were given to me by a dear friend named Andrea who is in our small group through our church – Journey.
The four-leaf clover is from her personal collection and the other pearl-accented pin is from her mother – whom I had the pleasure to meet several months ago. How special?!
Andrea, thank you so very much for giving me these gorgeous pieces of jewelry for my wedding bouquet! Philip and I wholeheartedly treasure our relationship with you and Marq. We’re so thankful we’ve been placed in each other’s lives as a part of one another’ stories. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve been such a positive influence on us. We feel very blessed to walk on this journey with you. Thank you for sharing your lives with us and also for listening and providing insight for our relationship as a couple and also in other aspects of our lives.
Can’t wait until we’re neighbors!
More brooches, earrings, etc. coming soon!
For those of you who don’t know, I’m originally from Southern Illinois – home of Charlie Birger and smack dab in the middle of the Shawnee National Forest. My hometown is about 3.5 hours from Nashville.
Although I never really dreamed about or imagined my wedding as a little girl, I’d always figured I would get married at one of the hometown churches from my childhood. (I church-hopped a few times while I was growing up.) Of course, I never imagined I’d grow up and move away to Nashville either.
As Philip and I began planning for our wedding here in Franklin, we realized we’d need to plan for a few events at home in Harrisburg too. My beautiful bridesmaids are planning a bridal shower for us at my Aunt and Uncle’s home there and we’re also planning a post-wedding celebration in Harrisburg shortly after we return from the honeymoon.
To help my hometown friends and family and show our support for two of my favorite local businesses, we created wedding registries at two places unique to Harrisburg – Durham’s Hardware and Dream Baskets.
Durham’s Hardware has been around for as long as I can remember. If you’re looking for something for your home, kitchen, garden, etc., they will help you find it. That place is chock full of great stuff. I’m serious. If you ever need anything regarding home improvement, repair, cookware, lawn/garden care, and so forth, you call Janet at (618) 253-4817. If they don’t have it, they’ll lead you in the right direction. Such good people. Not to mention, their wedding registry setup is pretty darn cool. If you’re looking to purchase something from our registry, you head over to Durham’s and look for the display rack with our names on it. They have everything conveniently assembled and on display for you to browse through. Perfect.
Dream Baskets is a long-time favorite gift store of mine. They carry beautiful home items and accessories including lovely things from TAG. We selected several items from the TAG whiteware, dinnerware and entertaining lines. Whether you’re a bride-to-be or an expectant mother, I highly recommend registering with Dream Baskets. The staff is friendly and helpful and Julie, the owner, always keeps the store well-stocked with the latest and greatest gift ideas and home trends. If you’re in the area, go by and check out our registry OR stop in for a tasty selection from their lunch menu. Click here to visit their website or here to visit the blog. (And thanks for the shoutout to Becoming Mrs. Dial last week!)
I wish I could say I took photos during our Adventures in Wedding Registry Land, but I did not. I do, however, have some photos of the latest pieces of jewelry I’ve received for my vintage brooch bouquet! Stay tuned!
One of my longtime, dearest friends is a lovely gal named Stephanie. She and I are both originally from Southern Illinois. We met back in high school during a speech tournament. From then on, we were inseparable. Although on opposing speech teams, we always supported each other and didn’t mind not taking 1st place in prose or poetry, as long as the other won.
After high school, we were both offered scholarships to be on the Southeastern Illinois College speech team. During our time with SIC, we became even closer and our friendship grew even stronger. Here we are in a SIC team photo shortly after winning the Phi Rho Pi National Forensics Tournament. I’m on the front far left (all pink) and she is on the front far right (with those amazing white/gray/black heels):
The best part about true friendships is that time and location don’t matter. Although Stephanie is in Chicago and I’m in Nashville, we get together or talk on the phone and it’s like no time has passed. We’re both busy women who lead busy lives (who are both planning weddings!) and although we don’t get to catch up as often as we’d like, it never affects our friendship.
Stephanie, I’m so grateful for you. I hate that we’re miles apart, but I love that we’re still best friends. I’m incredibly happy we’re each a part of this exciting time in one another’s lives. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us and our fiances. You are the definition of a classy lady and one of the most beautiful souls I know. THANK YOU for your friendship and for taking time to select these amazing brooches for my bouquet.
I’ve GOT to catch you up on things. Life seems to be moving at the speed of light these days!
Back on Valentine’s Day weekend, Philip and I devoted an entire day to registering for gifts. This was a piece of advice given to us by several of our recently married friends who said spreading it out over a week or two only made things more stressful…and we are ALL about keeping things as stress-free & simple as possible.
So yes…ONE WHOLE DAY devoted to registering & slowing down to talk about and plan for our future “nest” together. We made a leisurely day out of it, spending the first 3 hours of our day at Bed, Bath & Beyond. We had a blast. I’m pretty sure Philip’s favorite part was the scanner gun thing. Hehe. The folks at BB&B were great. Very helpful. NOT overbearing by any means. Plus, their return policy is great. Here are a few of the kajillion items we selected:
After scanning nearly everything we could ever imagine needing or wanting there, we decided to grab a delicious, quiet lunch at Royal Thai in Cool Springs. After enjoying a tasty meal, we headed to Green Hills to create a registry at Williams-Sonoma. Here are some of the lovelies we added to our registry there:
We rounded out the rest of our day by strolling through the Hill Center in Green Hills to window-shop and then grabbed all the ingredients we would need for our home-cooked Valentine’s Day meal from Whole Foods.
Stay tuned for part 2 of Adventures in Wedding Registry Land!
