Erin Condren

I had never even heard of Erin Condren until one of my friends at work (Allison - see her blog here: Just a Carolina Girl) came to me about Plum District featuring a deal on their products. I couldn't be more thankful that I went ahead and bought it, because I got one of their $50 personalized life planners for less than $30. Now, I legitimately don't know what I would do without it.

They offer all different kinds of things, but their biggest seller is their life planner. They offer different kinds of planners, including a wedding planner, but I just stuck with the regular one because I knew I would still get use out of it after the wedding is over (it goes until January of 2013). There are multiple different designs to choose from and you can specify any colors that you want from their list of available ones. You can also get your name or anything on the front. I have been having a hard time staying away from things that have names/monograms on them because mine is going to be changing so soon, so I just got my first name on the front. Its so funny to think that in less than a year my name will be changing!

My planner looks like this:

I love the way that it is organized, with a monthly calendar at the beginning of each month tab and weekly pages in between. Literally the only issue that I have with this planner is that it doesn't have lined boxes, but then when I think about it that's okay because you can usually squeeze more into a day without lines if you have to.

At the end there is space for notes, as well as a pocket to hold papers, a ziplock to hold other things, and stickers for special occasions like birthdays, weddings, etc. I have already added a sticker for our wedding and my cousin's wedding in June! I legitimately spent at least an hour putting in birthdays and already scheduled events for the next year right when I got it. LOVE IT!

I have honestly never received a package in a cuter box, and they also sent me complimentary stickers with my name on them in two different patterns!! 

It has taken me a while to get a new planner, because I really hate ones with wire spirals that can get all bent and stuff. That is the only reason I have yet to try a Lilly planner. I throw my stuff into my purse far too haphazardly for that. I love that my Erin Condren planner has a plastic spiral that won't change shape or get out of whack.

Is there a certain planner that you swear by?

Bridesmaids

So I was finally able to ask all of my bridesmaids! I am going to have a Maid of Honor and a Matron of Honor, and I asked them a couple of weeks ago with a bouquet of flowers sent to each of their houses. Besides them, I have seven other bridesmaids (big party, I know). I had some trouble getting the cards that I had ordered to send them all, and they finally came in and I finished sending/giving them out!

I found a million ways to ask bridesmaids on Pinterest, but I ended up going with the cutest cards. My mom found them on Zazzle, which I had never heard of before, but they have a few cute things that are very inexpensive. The cards I ordered for each bridesmaid had a picture of that person and I together on the front, then the girl's name, and the inside had "10 Reasons You Should be My Bridesmaid." The reasons were things like "What else do you have to do on 9/29/12?" and "I want to show off how hot my friends are." The template came with a set of 10, but I changed them around just a little bit.

So the next step (after making sure they all agreed), was to give them all the low-down on plans, dresses, shoes, etc. I sent them all a really long email (forgive me), laying out all the deets and also requesting that they each send me an individual picture for the wedding website!

For dresses, I decided on the J. Crew short silk taffeta line in Dark Pacific. It was a pretty easy choice since I pretty much live my daily life in J. Crew. There are 8 different styles, and I'm letting my girls pick whichever one they want. I realize people's body types will differ, and they will feel comfortable in different things. Especially with so many girls, I want everyone to like what they're wearing so we all have a stress-free day when the wedding comes. Here are just three examples of the styles:

I decided to just go with nude patent pumps, something that at least a couple of my bridesmaids will already have and definitely something they will all be able to use again. My cousins found an adorable pair at Target for really cheap that will be perfect:

All of my girls are so excited to be a part of the wedding and a lot of them have already bought and received their dresses (J. Crew has the BEST shipping EVER). I am so lucky to have this group of girls to stand beside me on my wedding day and I know they will make the year leading up to it as amazing as possible! Love love love you all!!