Oxon Hill in the Spring

I told you Mama Brooch and Mr. B visited our venue not long after we picked it, but I couldn't bethere because I had to work. Well, I finally had my chane to check it out and ironically, it was exactly one year and one day before our wedding! It was my first time being there since we had found it, more than 6 months prior and can I say it was sooooo much better than I imagined it? Yay!

It's really hard to describe the feeling I had pulling up. I was really, really anxious all morning to get there and when we finally did, I just felt overwhelmingly proud and like I wanted to show off all the little details of it all! My two best friends (the FSIL and MOH) went with me. They were so sweet to take off work and show such enthusaism about seeing it! We went out the night prior (it was a girl's night out and one of my other bridesmaids was there), they slept over, and the next morning we headed to over into Oxon Hill. Just like me, they were pretty impressed pulling up. I'll never forget my FSIL saying, "oh wow!" I can hear her saying it now!

I had this whole debate about whether we'd walk in the front door or walk around the house to the garden (which is how our guests will do it the day of our wedding). They said they wanted to do it the they everyone would and so we decided to walk through the garden. I'm so glad that we did! I was speechless when we turned the corner! I was beside myself looking at all the flowers, lush green trees, and potomac river in the distance! And of course, the look on their faces was priceless. That's when my MOH said, "oh wow!" 

I made a total fool of myself too, because I yelled out, "Look at all the eff-ing [yes, I cursed] flowers!!" Just when I did, an older lady walked around from behind the house! I smacked my mouth with my hands and gasped! I was so embaressed, but hey, I was excited! See there were no flowers in November when we found this place. Everything had literally come to life and it was beautiful!

The visit far exceeded my expectations. It was really, really cool to be at the venue exactly one year and one day before my actual wedding too, and the place looked better than ever! I'm sorry to gush with even more pictures of our venue. I know you'll get tired of them soon, but hopefully there is an Oxon Hill bride loving me for it!

*Photos by me*

Did you find out things about your wedding venue that you loved after you picked it?

Jumping on the Jam Perserves Bandwagon

We're jumping on the increasingly popular, Southern-inspired homemade jars of jam bandwagon! Can I get a Yeeeeeehaw? Just Kidding!

This was a really easy decision for us. We didn't spend a lot of time debating it like we did with other details. We just saw it, liked it, and said done! It happened so easily and I couldn't argue with a quick decision cause we hardly come by those!

One night when I was flipping through real weddings on one of my favorite wedding blogs, a certain something caught Mr. B's attention (he was watching television). He must have seen it out of the corner of his eye, because I had no idea he was paying any attention, but he leaned over and said, "Oh that's nice!"

It was a cutesy backyard, woodsy type of wedding and I guess because he had never heard or seen the jars of jam favors before, he jumped all over the idea. "Those are perfect, let's do that!" he said. Wha?? Really?? I honestly couldn't believe he liked the idea. It was one of those things I was planing to bring up later when he was in a really good mood or something. The more we discusesed it though I should have realized his love for this type of thing. It's quiant, fun, Southern, and all the things we want our wedding to be about.

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Don't know how to make jam?

No biggie!

That's what wedding blogs are for!

One reason I love wedding blogs, is because of the vast array of information available to brides at the click of a button! Check out all of these great recipes for jams from our favorite wedding places online!

Strawberry Jam recipe fom Intimate Weddings -- right here.

Raspberry Jam (and homemade bread) recipe from Project Wedding -- right here.

Another Raspberry Jam recipe from Intimate Weddings -- right here.

Sweet Cherry Jam recipe (and a few free printables) from Giverslog -- right here.

Blueberry Jam recipe from 100 Layer Cake -- right here.

As luck would have it, Mr. B's nana makes perserves!! This is an awesome opportunity to include her in the planning process and do some bonding with my future grandmother-in-law! I'm going to plan to spend a weekend at her house making the favors, but before I go, I'm going to collect up all our materials, which luckily, shouldn't be too expensive!

We're going to need fabric. I love the fabric Jam Jar Toppers (and free printable labels} here at Domestifluff. We'll also need jars! There's a bunch of awesome resources for reasonably priced mason jars, such as this Commerical Square Glass Jar from for $1.99 by the Container Store here. And labels, which can be found here at iDiY.

We just have to figure out what we want our labels to say... I've seen "Spread the love," which is a very clever (and popular) jam jar label. Or how about, "How Sweet it is?"

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So I love this idea because it's budget friendly, homemade, garden-inspired, and everything else that goes right along with the theme and feel of our down-to-earth wedding! I know our guests will love these favors too and better yet, they'll use them!

A lot of favors usually end up in the trash, but not these! I can see our guests waking up the Monday morning after our wedding and using the jam on their morning toast, hopefully reflecting on the fun and fabulous wedding they attended the night before!

What were your wedding favors?

Do you like "Spread the Love," or "How Sweet It Is," for our label?

Our First Christmas

Will be next year...

Unfortunately, Aaron and I will not be together this Christmas, but I am comforted by thoughts of all of our joint Christmases to come. I'm really, really, really looking forward to having our own apartment (right now we are living between his house in Williamsburg and my grandmother's house in Arlington), so that Christmas can be on our terms.

Of course, I am also anxious to decorate! Probably because my mother and grandmother were over-the-top decorators and somehow, I got that gene! I've inherited a lot of decorations from them too and I cannot wait to put them all up for our first Christmas together next year!

I've heard that it's difficult for married couples to split their time during the holiday between their families, but Aaron and I are ready for the challenge. We've discussed spending Christmas Eve with his family and spending Christmas Day visiting my Mom and Dad.  It will probably be a little hectic at first, but at least we'll be together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

{Photo credit: Southern Living}

{Photo credit: Hostess Blog}

{Photo Credit: Country Living}

{Photo Credit: Dream Homes Group}

{Photo credit: Southern Living}

{Photo credit: Country Living}

{Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens}

{Photo credit: Young House Love}

Inspiration Collage

Want to design invitations? I do!

On Style Me Pretty, enter to win the very prestigous honor of designing an inviation to add to the the Sarah Drake collection!

Since joining the SMP Style Circle, I have access to all the beautiful images gracing the SMP screen! I'm linked with thousands of other SMP fans and the fun awaits! I'm shocked that after a year of following SMP, I'm just now discovering this awesome feature--there's blogging, a favorites notebook, forum chats, and best of all, an inspiration board builder!

Here's my inspiration board for the INVITATION CHALLENGE:

Sarah of Sarah Drake will choose the winner on Tuesday, October 27th, so that means I entered in the contest on the last day to participate

(Photo credit: Me via Style Circle on Style Me Pretty)

Wish me luck!

Our Color Palette

Olive, cream, brown, & light pink:

Could these be our wedding colors?

Pictures by Mollusa Wedding Art Design available here.

Thanks Mollusa with Mollusa Wedding Art Design on etsy.com.

Check out her store here.