A few readers asked how we were able to transfer the lace from Todd’s mom’s handkerchief into the design for the Save the Date, the invitation, and the program. We knew immediately that we wanted the paisley lace design to be the common theme throughout the whole wedding, but we had to have it photo ready, so we sent the hankie to Kelly Moore of Kelly Moore Photography (my photographer). She took pictures of the lace and the quality was good enough for the invitation company to use it on all of our print pieces.

We decided that we wanted to use that same design on our cake. Unforunately, our cake maker doesn’t free hand her designs and we needed the lace design on the cake to look exactly like the hankie or else it would lose its whole effect. We found a company that makes fondant molds and sent the hankie to them. They returned the mold to us and it looked like it might actually work. I sent it to the cake maker and she called this week to let me know that it isn’t going to look that great.

So now we’re sort of back to square one with what our cake will look like. I know that it will be square because we bought a square plateau that I love. I’m going to Greenville to meet with the cake maker again on Sunday afternoon and hope we’re able to come to an agreement. It’s just so hard because I could visualize this perfect cake with our beautiful lace design on it. One thing’s for sure… her cakes taste amazing, so it won’t really matter what it looks like! Yeah…. right…

My parents were here all weekend! It was so nice to hang out and relax (sort of)! Our weekend was pretty busy and we had to squeeze in wedding conversations while my mom sewed trim onto our bedroom draperies. She’s the hardest worker I know and she didn’t stop all weekend. I picked them up at the airport on Friday and I made (with mom’s supervision) shrimp and grits for supper. It turned out to be really good! We just hung out all night and all fell asleep on the couch.

On Saturday morning, mom and I drove to West Columbia for a shower in honor of Todd and me hosted by some of Todd’s family friends– and new friends of mine. Todd met my dad and his dad at our house and they all built our storage shed in the backyard. The shower was beautiful and the brunch was fantastic! I got to see some friends of mine, meet some great ladies, and we got some truly beautiful things. Two of the best gifts of the day….

Lindsay Adams and her mother, Cathy, were two of the six hostesses of this great event. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them. They are Todd’s second family and I’m looking forward to them being my third family. They are the sweetest, most loving people and I already feel so fortunate to know them. Lindsay and her husband have a blog, too, and I love reading about her adventures in baseball land!

lindsay and me

nana, PC, me, and mom

the hostess in their aprons and oven mits!

the hostesses and me

Todd’s coworker and his wife hosted a SUPER FUN crawfish boil for us on Friday night. They ordered the crawfish from Natchitoches and they were delivered (live) in a styrofoam ice chest and they did a great job with boil! It was great to hang out with everyone and eat such great food. The Mrs. not only did the boil, but she cooked crawfish etouffee and Commander’s Palace’s bread pudding.

Sorry that there aren’t any actual crawfish in any of these pictures!

I’ve just returned from a wonderful trip to Dallas and Ruston! The whole five days was great and I was so happy to see so many friends and family and to get to eat such great food! 🙂

I picked up my dress on Thursday after Todd’s mom and I got to Dallas. I had my hair done on Friday morning in Dallas, then we were all off to Benton, Louisiana to meet my photographer, Kelly Moore, for the bridal portraits. It is always such an adventure with Kelly and I couldn’t be happier about my photographer choice. We were in true Louisiana areas for the pictures and I was only slightly scared that my dress was getting dirty! I can’t wait to see her work.

The next day, we had the shower at the Ropp Center on the Louisiana Tech campus. The shower was hosted by three ladies that I grew up knowing and loving and these women are dear friends of my parents. So many of my college and childhood friends were there and it was great to catch up. Two of my friends brought their babies and it was so much fun to see them for the first time! Here are some pictures of the really fun shower!

Rachel, Hudson, and me

PC and me

Jennifer, me, PC, Lisa, and Maisie

like sisters– Jennifer, me, and Kate

me, Lisa, Blair, and Maisie

After the shower, my friends, family, and I went to Cajun Cafe for some boiled crawfish and then I knew my trip home was complete!

My favorite college professors and their daughter gave me this adorable little sign that said, “Ruston: My home town.” While it wasn’t something on my registry, it was by far my favorite gift. I love that place!