Wedding Week 2015: Wedding Gifts

With wedding planning comes the joy (and sometimes stress) of putting together your wedding registry! You are able to pick items that you need, want and love and put them out there for your guests to purchase. The registry can take many forms and can include a wide variety of items depending on what you and your spouse pick out. Dustin and I registered at The Plaid Giraffe in Wichita, Williams Sonoma and Target. We loved all of the above. Each had the different items we wanted to register for. Some other places great for registering are Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Anthropologie. 

One of the things I hear all the time from people registering is "We don't need china, we will never use it!" Well I'm hear to fight against that argument because I absolutely love our china. Growing up, my grandma always used (and still does!) her gorgeous china place settings. It also helps that my mother works at a store that sells amazing wedding china. I would walk around her store and gaze at the detailed patterns and vibrant colors of dishes as a young girl dreaming of my registry - oh, at the age of 10 you didn't do the same? When my time came to pick out dishes, my mom and I had a blast. There are so many fun pieces you can put together to make a drop dead gorgeous place setting. I absolutely love our china:

Read more details here.

To help me with this fight is my fabulous friend Lynn. Her husband, like many others tried the argument that they would never use the china...

"Basically China Mondays, as you know, got started to spite my husband. I wanted to prove to him that the expensive and pretty dishes that we registered for really would get used more than once in our lifetime. I had a ton of fun the first "formal night dinner" that we had and the idea of using our China once a week turned from spite into an opportunity to formalize one meal a week, experiment with making new meals I've never made before, share the evening with friends and family when possible, and make sure that my husband and I always remember to spend at least an hour or two a week of quality, sit-down-at-the-table-and-talk time. #ChinaMondays have been a success in more ways than one way!" - Lynn

Gorgeous wedding with a gorgeous couple!

She even has pulled in some friends in on the fun! We definitely need to get in on this China Monday fun...

Dinner at Katie & Spencer's

It helps that she has amazing china from The Plaid Giraffe - seriously that blue is gorgeous! Also, I noticed her amazing flatware mixed in there. I love her China Monday idea!

Now, if you are on the guest side of a wedding, you have to figure out what to get the couple. I think one important thing to keep in mind is that they appreciate the gift no matter how big or small. When brides register for something like china and pottery, guests are nervous to buy just one plate or glass. Don't be! I'd get a plate and jump with excitement. They are trying to build a collection and every little bit helps. Plus, it's the thought that counts as always!

I put together a little guide to help get registry and gift ideas flowing. If the couple you are buying for doesn't have a registry or the registry is picked over, here are some ideas that are fun, simple and unique:

1. MacKenzie Child's pieces - Water Goblets | Cookie Jar 2. Rifle Paper Co. - Recipe Box | Art Print 3. Annie Glass - Ruffle Chargers (as seen in place settings above) 4. Social Manor - Monogrammed Guest Towel 5. Acrylic Monogrammed Trays - Social Manor Small & Large | Mark & Graham 6. Target - Colorful Colander 7. Oil & Spices - Williams Sonoma Olive Oil & Balsamic Set | World Market Salts 8. Anthropologie - Coasters 9. Williams Sonoma - Dish Towels 10. Williams Sonoma - Soap Sets

All of the above items are things I own or have purchased for others. My MacKenzie Child's and Annie Glass pieces are some of my favorites. My cousin (and matron of honor) got us the Rifle Paper Co. art print since it matched the style of our wedding and it meant so much to us! My friend (and bridesmaid) ordered a custom Mark & Graham acrylic tray and it's perfect for our bar items. Our colander from Target was green and everyone got us that because it was so fun - haha seriously we kept opening them! The Anthro coasters were actually a birthday gift, but they are a coffee table staple. The other towels, soaps and seasonings are great things that people love to have, but hate to buy. Hopefully with all the different price ranges, you are able to find a way to give a fun and loved gift to the newlyweds!

Lots of Love,

Wedding Week Day 1: Wedding Websites!

Happy Monday and first day of For the Love of Character's Wedding Week! I loved planning my wedding and I am so excited to share some fabulous ideas with all of you. To start, I thought it would be best to give you some of my favorite websites. That way you can look through and get some fun ideas before all your planning begins - or help with the mid-planning panic!

Before you start anything, you need a way to stay organized! Mindy Weiss's Wedding Planner binder was a God send and I recommend it to all newly engaged gals - it is aMAZing!

Cute and functional! It has everything you need from checklists to how to word invitations to questions for vendors.

For some fabulous ideas and inspirations:
Southern Weddings is amazing and was a great find when I was down in Florida for a planning trip. Their magazine is only published once a year (in November), but their website and Pinterest have great ideas:

Current Issue out - if you can't find in stores, you can order online!

The issue I lived off of! 

They have real weddings that are great inspiration.

A popular wedding blog, Style Me Pretty, also has gorgeous real weddings that give lots of pretty ideas:

I'm obsessed with this gorgeous bouquet!

Now that you have some ideas, it is on to the shopping for fun finds! Being on a budget for our wedding, I searched high and love for good deals. Make sure you signup for e-mails, so you can find the sales.
First up, the well known Etsy! Etsy is an awesome place to find unique items full of character:

First Snow Fall is an incredible Etsy shop with amazing prints, card, invitations, etc. It is a little on the pricey side so you can decide what pieces are worth the money and what you should use for ideas.

Our fabulous flower girl, Lillie, looked so cute in the White Eyelet Dress from Etsy - super affordable!

Our flower girls also rocked these to die for baby shoes from Etsy.

For personalized favors and free printables, Wedding Chicks is a great find:

Hankies made a great keepsake gift for our moms and grandmothers! Plus you can personalize them.

Loved these sweet little flower totes and ordered them for our flower girls - you can choose what they say.

Ordered these adorable personalized totes for my little cousins who were our greeters!

They have awesome FREE printables for you to use, including invitations, signs, cards, etc.

Did you know that Anthropologie has a wedding website? I found out right before I got engaged and I knew it would be a dream shop for me since Anthro is my fav! I was right...it was a great spot for my bridesmaid dresses and was also an awesome place for inspiration. They have great items on sale a lot of times and I scored my bridesmaid dresses for $80! I also got some cute dresses for myself, as well as some shoes. For creative pieces, this is definitely a fun shop:

Our friends, Abby & Sam, had these fun fans at their wedding and it was a pretty way to cool yourself off. 

Love these hanging votives!

Sweet and short bridesmaid dress.

Great bridal shoe!

Even on a budget, a girl has to splurge on herself every once in a while, or ask for a great gift! Here are a couple of my favorite for the bride finds:

I'm sad this adorable Kate Spade Bride Tote wasn't around when I was lugging around my binder!

I love Betsey Johnson's Blue Collection and these were the shoes I picked to walk down the aisle in - yes they were comfortable!

I'm not sure how brides used to survive without online resources to plan a wedding. There are so many great sites available out there to take advantage of, so please use them! Obviously, Pinterest is a must and you can find amazing ideas on it - I planned so much of my wedding using Pinterest. To see what I pinned you can check out my {Getting Married} board.

Now get to clicking and start finding your favorite wedding inspirations! Please share any of your other favorite websites in the comments section to help your fellow brides out.

Lots of Love,