My Wedding Party and Flowers

For all my beautiful bride's maids who check out the blog, I warned you last week that I am participating in some fun over at Kelly's Korner ...last week I showed off my wedding dress...this week it's your turn girls...here are my bride's maid dresses/wedding party and flowers...two more pieces of my wedding day that I LOVED!

None of my bride's maids were actually "maids"...they were all married when they were in my wedding so I think that technically makes them matrons...anyway, I had been in each of there weddings (expect for one) plus a few other weddings, so when I started picking out my dress I had some experience at wearing a bride's maid dress myself. My top priorities were comfort & a flattering dress style, so I began looking for dresses on my favorite wedding website...TheKnot.com. I loved this Jenny Yoo dress as soon as I saw it. I knew I wanted bright green dresses...I thought it was fun and perfect for my May wedding...so I ordered swatches, had a sample dress mailed to my house and found out where I could purchases these dresses. What do you know, they had a boutique in Atlanta less than a mile from where I had purchased my dress. So one weekend when Arch and I were on our way to Auburn for a football game I made him stop in Atlanta and I dragged him to this store for me to place my deposit for these dresses. We paid for 1/2 the cost of the dresses as part of a series of gifts my bride's maids would receive over the weekend of the wedding. These were such flattering dresses on each and everyone of my bride's maids...but they are all beautiful girls anyway, so they would have looked fantastic in anything!

Arch's only request for the wedding was that he be able to wear his own clothes...he didn't want to rent a tux. I agreed since he asked for so very little and didn't stand in my way on any other wedding planning decisions. We had all the guys buy the same dark blue suit which they ultimately all loved because the suit wasn't much more than a tux rental and they got to keep the suit forever...leave it to my husband to be practical! We gave the groom's men Vineyard Vines ties with tiny little fish on them as their groom's gift...another hit since most all have enjoyed fishing with Arch over the years.



These flip flops were another gift to my bride's maids. They were Kate Spade sandals that my mom and I paid next to nothing for at a Day After Christmas Sale at Belk's. They were perfect and with comfort being important to me they made the reception much more comfortable for these ladies!



I'd like to take credit for my idea with my flowers, but my mom and I actually stole the idea from a wedding we had been to the year before. All of my bride's maids carried different bouquets and then my flowers and the flowers in the church and at the reception were a mix of these same flowers. I loved my bouquet so much I had it pressed and framed and now it hangs in our bedroom. I get to look at my actual wedding flowers every morning when I wake up.



We were not allowed to throw rose petals in the church, so my flower girls held these flower balls.



I'm having so much fun reliving my wedding day! I hope you are all enjoying the memories too...or if you weren't there I hope you're enjoying seeing what my big day was like. Next week is the reception and honeymoon...which will be G-rate I promise!

Ruth Ann and I are at the beach visiting my friend Page for some much needed time in the sun. Page's mom has very generously offered to watch Ruth Ann so Page and I can have some big girl time on the beach...a priceless gift! I'll be sure to post our beach pictures very soon...a lot of outfits were pack for some serious photo time on the beach!

Life's a party

This past week we have been partying!! Our friend Justin Brown turned the big 3-0 this past week so while Sally treated her hubby to birthday dinner we kept Jay and Betsy at our house. These two are a complete delight so we enjoyed every minute of our evening with them. Spencer kept Jay entertained and Betsy and I baked cookies which she agreed were yummy to her tummy. I also talked to Jay about being Ruth Ann's boyfriend when she grew up...here's how the conversation went...

me: Jay, will you be Ruth Ann's boy friend?
Jay: Yes.
me: Will you take her to the prom?
Jay: Yes, I'll have something I need to show her.
Arch: Hey now!

I love Jay's age (3 years old)...they say the funniest thing in the most innocent way! Here are all three of the "little" kids hanging out on the floor...Spencer didn't hop in the picture.



Ruth Ann and Betsy are the only girls (so far) in our group of friends. I have high hopes that these two will spent hours playing together when they're big girls.



We also had a welcome home party...for a long lost friend...kinda. At Christmas my mom bought Ruth Ann a kitty rattle that she LOVED, but unfortunately she dropped it while we were at EPCOT. Luckily Aunt Toni loves this girl and sent her a replacement. She loves the pig just as much as she did the kitty...thanks Aunt Toni!







Later in the week Sally had an adult only party to celebrate Justin's b-day, but I left my camera at home. Justin's sister is a professional photographer and I get intimated that she'll have her fabulous camera out and I'll look the fool. She wasn't there, so next time I'll have it waiting in the car just in case! Needless to say...no pictures were taken, but a good time was had by all...I almost felt like I was in college again!

Since Justin's party was "adult only" Ruth Ann spent her first night with Grammy and Grumpy...I'm sure some partying was going on over there too! The next morning I picked up Ruth Ann bright and early and we went out to meet my friend Kate to celebrate her daughter Amelia's 2nd birthday.

Here's the birthday girl, Miss Amelia...





Ms. Kay, Kate's mom, saved the Fisher Price toys her kids played with as kids. These are great toys...Ruth Ann had so much fun playing with...and snacking on...these toys.







Amelia sat down to play with Ruth Ann for a few minutes. Seeing these two play together is very special to me, so I took a quick picture. Kate and I met when I was in the 3rd grade when her family moved to Lexington. Many of my childhood memories involve days at the lake with Kate, playing in her play room and hours of pretending! Kate was by far the most imaginative person I have ever known...I hope our girls have just as much fun together as we did.



Here's Amelia's new little sister, Natalie Jean...she slept peacefully the whole time we were there.



I also got a few cute pictures of Ruth Ann wearing one of my favorite outfits. While I was snapping these pictures I caught Ruth Ann in her new favorite pose...inches away from crawling...any day now she's going to take off!





Here's a find that I had to share. I bought this cute skirt at Walmart and put a monogram in the corner...it turned out so cute I bought 2 more for next summer. These skirts have built in shorts so they'll be perfect for playtime next year.

My Wedding Dress

After I started my blog I myself became a "blog stalker"...I openly admit I'm addicted to viewing any and every blog. One of my favorites to stalk is Kelly's Korner...a few weeks ago she invited everyone to show off their homes & most of you who have been to my home know I have a lot of things planned for this house, but little accomplished, so I passed on the invite to show of the McCarty family living quarters. However, my eyes lit up when she invited us to show off our wedding dress!! For those who knew my during my wedding planning you know I LOVED every minute of the 10 months it took to plan my wedding...scratch that, I'd been planning my wedding since I was 4 years old, it just took 10 months to get everything purchased and in place. Shopping for my wedding dress was by far my favorite memory of all the wedding planning. We planned a weekend long trip to Atlanta where my best friends Andrea Webster and Amanda Newman drove up to meet me and my mom and one of her friends (who graciously let us stay at her home just north of Atlanta) for a day of shopping down Peachtree. I had already done some (read A LOT) of research about where I wanted to go. We started with Saks because Andrea had purchased her dress at the Saks in Birmingham and I knew how special they made you feel. My dress consultant (Yolanda) listened to what I had to say and the dress I ultimately purchased was the 1st dress I tried on...no other dress compared to it all day long...Yolanda knew what she was doing. It was a beautiful silk matelasse stapless dress by Carolina Herrera...the first and last designer gown I'll probably ever own!

This was my wedding portrait...taken at the Sheldon Church ruins near Beaufort, SC. This church was built prior to the Revolutionary War, destroyed by fire, rebuilt, destroyed by fire during the Civil War and never rebuilt. I visited these ruins as a senior in high school and came home telling my mom this was where I wanted my wedding portrait taken...I told you details were decided years before the wedding was in sight.



This was my wedding announcement picture for the newspaper...I love this picture because I look so skinny and my belly is flat!



Let's not forget about Arch...it was his wedding day too. Yeah right, I still refer to the wedding as "MY" wedding, even when I'm talking to him.



And here is my Daddy just before we walked into the church. For those who know my Daddy you know he's a grouchy man...that's why I'm having Ruth Ann refer to him as "Grumpy"...that's why I love this picture. My photographer totally caught him on the edge of tears and it's probably one of the few times I've seen him cry.



I can't wait to plan Ruth Ann's wedding...but I'm in no rush to have to pay for that day! Next week is wedding party's & flowers...I can't wait because I loved my bridesmaid dresses too!

Summer time

It's so nice to have a lazy weekend without any plans. My mom called friday to find out what Ruth Ann & I...but mostly Ruth Ann...had planned for saturday because she had not seen her all week. Why come to my house...there's nothing fun here...I told her we would come out to the pool. I love how Ruth Ann is so relaxed in the water. We would put her in her float and she would kick back and relax...I tried to get a picture of her lounging in her seat, but she kept sitting up when I had the camera out...of course!





Then we got out of the pool & dried off before heading inside. Ruth Ann entertained us with her constant chatter.





I've told some of you about my parent's tomato tree. When I was little and we still lived in a neighborhood my dad would plant a modest garden...mostly cucumbers and tomotoes. I think this may have been where my love (read obsession) with tomatoes may have begun. If you've ever eaten dinner with me and I've ordered a salad you've heard me request extra tomatoes...I LOVE a tomato...it may be my favorite thing about summer in South Carolina. To me summer is in full swing when the tomato plants start to turn red...yummm...Anyway, once my parents moved to their current house my daddy's garden grew...most of the time (read all of the time) it was way more produce than we needed...however, you can never have too many tomatoes! This year my daddy was too preoccupied with other hobbies to grow a garden, so my parents decided to order a tomato tree after watching an infomercial...it's been a big success and I'm planning on getting one for next year. They grew regular sized tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. FYI for those considering one for next year...it takes A LOT of water...2 gallons of water per day...here are the fruits of my moms labor...









Overall the McCarty's are all having a pretty great summer...it's hard to believe we're half way through the summer...but that means one thing...football season is right around the corner!!

Here's what Ruth Ann and I have been up to...

Ruth Ann was introduced to yet another new food this past week...puffs. Although the container says the child must be able to crawl to eat these...why, I'm not sure...they melt in your mouth so I don't think they're a choking hazard...so we ignored that suggestion and here's what happened...

I laid out a pile in front of Ruth Ann while she was in her high chair...



Then she put as many of them as she could comfortably fit into her chubby little hand...



She figured out where they needed to go & seemed to enjoy them.



Later Ruth Ann had her bath and I realized it had been a while since we had taken bath time pictures so I ran to grap my camera...another new hair do...



After bath time we played a little on the changing table...is this what it would be like to have twins??



Ruth Ann has been dying to grap the assorted bottles and lotions at the end of her changing table...tonight she managed to get to them...



So that's what Ruth Ann has been up to...I've been getting crafty...I've been making burb clothes for friends for the last 2 years. Over time they've gotten more and more detailed. This is my favorite so far, but what southern girl doesn't love sersucker??



And who is this "Roper" who received this very cute burp cloth?? Meet Roper Henry Clark, the newest addition to the Clark family. FYI...I think he looks like his mommma...



I've also been hard at work finishing this bishop dress for Ruth Ann. I learned how to smock while I was in college and took a bishop construction class before I found out I was pregnant with Ruth Ann, but this is the first dress that I can claim to have sewn every stich from start to finish. It still needs buttons...that's why there's no picture of the back...and the hem isn't finished...that's why you can't see the bottom either...but it's basically finished. Isn't it cute! Also, for those of you who don't understand why smocked clothing comes with a hefty price tag you've obviously never smocked or sewed...there's a lot of work involved!





And finally...I've been appliquing...this is my favorite shirt so far. Sorry Carolina nation, you're not going to like it at all, but to all my Auburn and Clemson friends, if you get the t-shirt of your choice to me I'll be happy to make one for your little one for $15. I can't wait to get Ruth Ann into this shirt this fall!

A new hair do...

I'm so lucky to have a 7 month old with a full head of hair. I know some people wait months or even years for their daughters to have as much hair as Ruth Ann had when she was born. However, I'm DYING to put this hair in a pony tail...here is as close as I can get right now...





FYI...she's never worn her hair like this in public...atleast not yet!

I belong in Hawaii

My friend Candi sent Ruth Ann this very cute dress (along with some other really cute outfits that we love)...too bad it didn't come with a trip to Hawaii because she should definitely wear this dress to a luau! Thanks Ms. Candi!



Griff came to get in the photo too. He's getting SO big...at the last vet visit he was 70lbs! Even though he's a beast of a dog, he has a very sweet personality...Ruth Ann was completely safe putting her hand in his mouth!