A Beautiful December Wedding

Hello there!

I hope you all are enjoying your Christmas Holiday Season.

Here are a few shots of a wedding I did this month at the Giddings Stone Mansion, here in Brenham, Texas.

The bride and her sweet family all have wonderful taste and it was a joy to do this wedding.

Centerpieces were made in urns the bride purchased. They were a mossy gray color. We used soft pinks and creams and whites. Hydrangeas, roses, silver Brazil berries... It was a beautiful palette.

We used succulents and rosemary and moss in birdcages for some of the table centerpieces.

The soft palette of lush flowers was accented by the bride's collection of vintage ribbons. Her bouquet, pictured above.

The lucky groom.

The bridesmaid's bouquet

Look at all that pretty-ness all in one place! Love this all together.

Lovely.

Congratulations Sara!

Best Wishes!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Hugs,

Some recent wedding work...

Hello! Just a few pictures of some recent weddings to try to win you back! ha! Have been working so much that I haven't had time to post... sorry.

These few pictures are from a wedding I did in October. Such pretty, jewel toned colors.

Will have more to post soon.

Hugs,

P.S. All the pictures are by Paige Meyer Photography... check her out.

This is why we adopted...

Hi there!
The article I copied and pasted below is by an anonymous writer. The woman that is writing has alot of the same sentiments that we do about adoption, and multi-raical families.

I hope you will take the time to read this.

Little Sister: My Life as the Sibling to International Adoptees
What it is really like to live in a transracial family
November 01,2011 / Anonymous

A few weeks ago, I spent a weekend with my big sister. The time we spent together was not atypical; we went out to eat, did a little shopping, and splurged on pedicures. What was atypical were the confused looks from the ladies giving the pedicures, from the overly chatty check-out man at a store, and from the parents of my nephew's friends when we went to pick him up from a birthday party as we gently corrected all those assuming we were just friends.
Even now as an adult, I still seem to forget from time to time that my sister and I look so different from one another to the outside world. When I was born in 1985, I became the sixth and final child of a family already made up of two bio sisters and three bio Korean siblings who had joined our family several years earlier. My first photos of life in this new world are five individual shots of each of my siblings holding me in a rocking chair at the hospital, grinning from ear to ear at their little sister (a title that at 21 years of age I still can't seem to shake and don't really care to). From day one, the faces around me looked nothing like my own, and that was my normal from that point on.
Many pre-adoptive parents are hesitant to add children of different races to their family for a multitude of reasons. Living in non-diverse areas, wondering how to raise children with a strong sense of their birth culture and self while raising them in a whole different world, and dealing with the inevitable looks, questions, and occasional disparaging comments when venturing outside the home are all valid concerns. For adoptive parents, these concerns are only multiplied when there are already biological children to factor into the equation.
Parents with biological children need to assess the impact adding additional children to their home will have on their existing children. Many struggle with wondering if it is fair to expose the children they already have to a situation in which the new additions will require much extra work and attention during the initial adjustment period and possibly beyond. The prospect of turning a household upside down while also making the family different every time they step out the front door by adding a child of a different racial background is downright intimidating. Yet from my experience, different can become a family's normal pretty quickly.
In a home with three children who came to us at older ages from an institutionalized setting in South Korea , race (though something addressed and respected within our household) was probably one of the least significant issues we faced as a family. There were problems with attachment, adjusting to different types and amounts of food, old hurts to heal, and a previous life of sub-par medical and dental care to correct. When the three newest family members first started at the elementary school our two oldest sisters were already attending, a racially derogatory comment was made about our new additions while out on the playground. My gentle, soft-spoken oldest sister gave the kid the verbal lashing of his life. No one talked about her brother and sisters that way and that was the beginning and end of it.
As I got older, I knew that not only was my family different, but I was different. From day one, I hated it when people asked me which ones my real sisters were (to which I still reply that since I have no fake sisters, I have no idea what they could possibly be referring to). But beyond this, it also started to hurt me when people couldn't or wouldn't see the rest of the world the way I did. I grew up knowing that three of the people who were the whole world to me came out of extreme poverty, that there were scars on their bodies they couldn't recall receiving, and that they had vivid memories of a woman who loved them so much she gave up her heart when she let them go to the orphanage for a chance at a better life. Their history could not be separated from my own.
I never grew up with the white, suburban view of the world my peers shared. When stories came across the news of horrors in places far away, I didn't feel sad for a moment and turn away. Even as a child, I felt it to the core of my being.
Without a doubt, I can say that being the little sister of three people born into a different world has been the overriding element that has made me the person I am today. As a little girl I could locate other countries on a map most adults had barely heard of. I worried about the starving children in Africa as I fell asleep at night. In high school, I stayed after school to work with students who had recently immigrated to the U.S. on improving their English skills and breaking down communication barriers so they could attend mainstream classes. Now as a senior in college I am finishing up a degree in social work so that I can work in the adoption field. In every face, in every situation, I see my sisters and my brother. I am who I am for being their sister.
Was my life made easier by being raised in a multi-racial family? The honest answer to that is: No. But it was made better. Although I was exposed to discrimination, hatred, and general insensitivity from day one, I also stretched and grew in ways that my peers could not.
My siblings made me a citizen of the world from the moment I was born. I can understand poverty, struggle, and the hurts that others carry deep inside of them without ever having to learn it. The man in the check-out line looking confusedly at my sister and me is no big deal. We smile and move on, leaving him to turn it over in his own head. The depth and richness that my sisters and brother have brought to my life, however, is everything.

Have a great Monday!

Hugs,

Blake football banquet and some randomness

Hi friends...
Two posts in one day is a miracle.
I have so much to catch up on... here are a few personal things for you to check out!!
Note: If you are a customer and could care less about my personal life, please scroll down to the next post :)

A coat drive at sonic... bring a coat, get a Route 44 drink...

I will do this.

Owen and myself (behind the phone/camera) having our date in College Station.

Homecoming mum...
Go Cubs!

Owen wanting his picture taken.

A night of BBQ

Blake about to walk across the stage to get his football trophy.

The trophy was awesome!

A huge hit.

If you see Blake, ask him about the trophy.

This is Blake's coach handing him his trophy.

His coach is awesome. We will miss him next year... his son moves to the next age group, and leaves us in Freshman...

He is so good with the boys.

If you see Blake you could also comment on his boots :)

He loves 'em.

Happy Weekend,

A Pretty (Fabulous) Wedding!

Hey there...

Well, two posts in one month is pretty amazing, eh?

I got to do a really fun wedding this past weekend.

The family ranch is in Round Top, but the couple and thier kids are both currently living in Vegas!

We had a blast planning it and it was so fun to do a wedding for people who appreciated all the hard work.

We had an orange, purple, lime green color scheme going, with all kinds of added fun like: feathers, metal, and rhinestones!

This is a floating piece I created (see below).

We covered a 2x4 frame with oasis and flowers and hung it above the site where the bride and groom would exchange thier vows.

This is what it looks like installed.

It was so windy we were praying it would stay together.
But, amazingly when I went back to the site Wednesday to pick up rental items, the flowers still looked pretty good considering, and it was all still in one piece!

Look at these fun polka dot overlays!
Brenham Party Rentals has some great table cloths!


Magnolia wreaths with feathers for the entrance.

It was so windy alot of the centerpieces sat on the ground until right before the ceremony began.

Lanterns marked an aisle for the bride and her attendants.

I love these colors together!!

Enjoy this Fall season!

Hugs,

Baby Shower for a Great Friend

A few weekends ago, me and a few of my great friends threw a baby shower for another great friend... Heather is expecting her third boy. Our boys are really good friends and love to play together.
When Owen was on his way home, and even after he was here, Heather gave us so many clothes and toys... we really didn't have to buy anything at all for Owen.
So, of course I wanted to have a shower for her to try to bring this baby into the world and "shower" him with gifts.

You can't even tell Heather is pregant! (second from left)

We had everyone address thier own thank you note... that is really like a whole different gift to the mom! I had someone do that for me at a shower and try to always do it if possible!

Heather, you are a sweet friend and a great mom! Can't wait to meet baby Austin!!

xoxoxo

Have a great week!

Hugs,

I almost forgot...

A few pictures I forgot on my phone... A bookshelf I decorated for a home-owner with no time to do it herself.

The picture doesn't do justice to it... it turned out really well.

This is the framed quote I got for my house... I fell in love with
these out at Round Top.
An artist hand painted them and I love it!


I picked this one for my house.
I had to have it... I wish my boys could bring that on a notecard with them everyday to school.
Don't you just want to make them know that every day?!
Have a good one!

Hugs,