Signing off as a Dennihy

5th January 2015

After nearly two months, a lot of paperwork and ~~several~~ far too many naps, I’ve recovered from getting married, changed my name (as far as the federal government is concerned) and I can officially call myself a White. It’s been a whirlwind of two months and we’ve loved just about every second of the journey.

Everyone tells you that your wedding day will be the best day of your life. Our entire wedding week surpassed every expectation and filled that claim for more. Everyone also shares endless advice. I couldn’t love that tradition more, especially one particular coworker who kept me sane the week of by sharing a new story daily (thanks Adam).

I’m sure I could blog and share photos for hours, but to tribute all of the advice and stories shared, it felt best to break down down the day with our favorite shared words of wisdom.

Five pieces of wedding advice worth sharing

1. Get plenty of sleep the night before

First, this didn’t happen whatsoever. Though after staying out with friends until 3:00 AM on our wedding day, I wish it did. So did the five hours I spent napping on the couch on Sunday.

Living close to the wedding venue (and having in-laws who also live within a few miles) I was fortunate enough to have the girls stay at Patrick and I’s little home on wedding eve. When we planned it this way, I thought to myself “Fantastic. My own bed? I’ll sleep like a baby!”

No such thing. After about 1:00 in the afternoon the nausea set in and didn’t subside until after the ceremony. Having the cops come to your door at 2:00 AM after a neighbor backed into your bridesmaid’s car didn’t help either. Yes. That happened. But survive we did – and thankfully no one was hurt.

2. Every hour, step back for a full minute and just take it all in

This did happen. From the moment we joined hands at the alter, to soaking up our loved ones all together on the dance floor at Johnny’s Hideaway at 3:00 AM, this was hands down the best advice we were given.

Per the advice of our planner, we opted to forgo cocktail hour, choosing to have plated hors d’oeuvres brought to a room in the offices of the reception venue. It may have only been 15 minutes or so, but just taking a few minutes to soak in what was happening, just the two of us, was so special.

3. Dance … and then dance some more

We may not have had the chance to speak to every one of our guests (if we didn’t speak to you 1:1, know we love you just as much), but we did make the most of the dance floor.

P is NOT a public dancer. Pretty early on in our dating days, I made him a compromise that he only had to dance with me for one song at every wedding we attended (which meant a LOT of girlfriend dance days) … if he would agree to dance every dance should we ever get married. Welp, that paid off. Maybe I had a hunch 😉

4. Don’t leave for your honeymoon the next day

I don’t know how people make it to the airport 12 hours later. See the five hour Sunday nap comment above. That combined with a going away brunch for our out of town guests allowed us to recover and savor every second with family and friends.

5. It will go by in the blink of an eye

So that’s not quite advice, but I don’t think I really understood what anyone meant until we experienced this ourselves. Our entire wedding week literally flashed before our eyes and from what I hear, the years and then decades will continue to do the same. And in this case, we look forward to soaking it all in, one moment at a time.

A most sincere thank you to our incredible vendors who made our day come to life.

Personal & Handmade Holiday Gifts

14th December 2014

It seems every holiday season, for as long as I can remember, I have had a mile long to-do list of DIY Christmas gifts. When I discovered Etsy, it was if a whole new world of inspiration and even more perfectly designed crafts was opened to me (you mean I can buy this in exchange for my feeble Pinterest fail?).

Flash forward a few years, and the combination of a few evenings of craftiness with friends, perusing Etsy shops and local favorite Atlanta boutiques makes Christmas shopping seems a lot less daunting – even with ten days to go.

Here are a few of the gifts on my list for events past and present, including a few that made appearances in our wedding.

handmade holiday

/1/Linen Laid & Felt Journal. Shop owner Katie is a friend from college, now living in Nashville. We were thrilled to have one of her books in our wedding this November. /2/ 2015 Calendar from The Postman’s Knock. Since beginning calligraphy myself about a year ago, Lindsey has been one of my favorite to follow on Instagram. /3/ Gold Bar Necklace from Edor. I’ve ordered from this shop twice now for friends, I just love the small bar with a monogram or name as a personal gift you can wear every day. /4/ Not quite a gift (maybe for yourself), but I can’t get enough of these tulle skirts from Kellie Falconer. Paired with a sweater, they make a great Christmas party or NYE look. Despite protests from my now husband, I rocked an ivory skirt for our rehearsal dinner.

I’ll follow up with where I land on the actual crafts, but for now, these seem like great places to start.

PS looking for last minutes gift ideas in Atlanta and don’t have time for shipping? Here are a few of my go-to local Atlanta shops.

/1/ Krog Street Market /2/ Sugarboo & Co /3/ Kudzu Antiques

If you’re a small business owner, check out Kabbage’s Holiday Planning page, full of tips for the season. Kabbage is an online provider of small business loans and serves as a resource for entrepreneurs to thrive in their local communities. While the contents of this post are in no way intentionally connected to Kabbage, their model is one I very much respect.

The best wedding registry yet

1st October 2014

After a quick trip to Lenox today to pick up some reception decor and try our hand at narrowing down mom’s MOB dress options, I have big news that it seems the world needs to hear.

Anthropolgie now offers wedding registries.

After years of threatening to move into the store, this feels like a fair enough compromise.

P is thrilled, as am I. Perhaps our home will be filled with girly cookbooks and delicate plates after all.

Has anyone else had success with smaller store registries? Worth mixing it up with the big boxes or a skip? I’d love opinions.