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New Year | APbride Audrey Checks in

Kunbi O / Sunday February 8, 2015

The only rule of the day is that if you can’t dance or party in it, then you are NOT allowed to buy it! – ME

First off, I wanted to start this blog by wishing everyone a Happy New Year and I hope each and every one of you had a holiday season filled with love, laughter, family and friends!!

Happy Holidays from the future Matthews family!

The last few months has been extremely crazy in our household due to my bodybuilding show the beginning of November, my birthday (yes, I ate too much, drank too much, and had a spectacular evening chatting with Troy and our old roommate Tyler) traveling home to spend Thanksgiving with my family, flying to Dallas for a four day work trip proceeding a weekend spent with one of my bridesmaids who lives there, then Christmas, New Years, finished off by BUYING A HOME!!!!  That’s right, we are officially crazy! Who buys and home and then gets married 6 months, well technically 4 months since we won’t close until February due to our current lease situation, later? Anyways, we are totally crazy and all the chaos has pushing wedding planning to the back of my mind. I did, however, get to spend the first weekend of January with all of my girls, plus my mom, bridesmaids dress shopping followed by a little fun!

Two months ago, I arranged for all of my bridesmaids, and my mom, to meet me in Kansas City to go bridesmaids dress shopping and spend some nice time together before one of my maids moves across the world and several others get back to work following Christmas break. Thinking back, I had no intention of any sort of bachelorette party, but knowing my friends, I should have known the topic was at least going to come up. Well it did, and it was set that they were going to do a mini bachelorette party and I was to know not a single detail except what color I was supposed to wear, and boy was it amazing!!!! Unfortunately, I have so many wonderful things to share about both shopping and the bachelorette party that I’ll have to split them into two blogs. Good incentive to check back this month to read about the craziness that always finds us when we are together!!!!

Me and my ladies!
Me and my ladies!

As most of you know, we are having a beach wedding and I’ve recently decided I want the theme to be very Garden Meets Beach, with different shades of green, beautiful wooden tables, bouquets that don’t look too put together, and lots and lots of candles. It will be very dreamy and relaxing with the waves crashing and the breeze blowing, and perfect, or at least that is how I see it in my mind. With that being said, we were in search of long, flowy chiffon dresses that come in different shades of green ranging from sea mist, meadow, kiwi, pistachio, midori, and any other green we liked!

source
source

Like last time, we began our dress search at Something White Bridal Boutique, where Brittany warmly greeted me as I basically ran through the door after sleeping through my alarm following a night of sushi, drinks, and tons of laughter. Anyways, I ran in and there sat five of my six bridesmaids (and an additional little peanut who I am over the moon about) just smiling ear to ear. It was spectacular and so wonderful to know that each of them care so much about Troy and I that they traveled far and near to spend this day shopping with me!!! While giving the normal hugs and kisses, the sixth bridesmaid, Kori, came sneaking in the door with my own personal “BRIDE” Starbucks containing my favorite drink! We were off to a very good start!

Before the shopping started, I let them all know that my #1 concern for them is comfort. Everyone has different body shapes, taste, and comfort levels so I wanted to give them the freedom of picking a style they loved and felt wonderful in. The girls began trying on dresses left and right and I my motto quickly became, “If you can’t dance or party in it, then you are NOT allowed to buy it!!!” Of course, after this statement, the dancing ensued and we were all in stitches at the “AMAZING” moves we were witnessing. Brittany has a great selection of Wtoo dresses and found several that we loved but we wanted to see a couple more styles before making final decisions.

WToo Green Bridesmaids
WToo Green Bridesmaids

Next we headed to lunch followed by the rest of our shopping at another local shop where we found a few other styles designed by Dessy that were pretty amazing as well.

Deep green bridesmaids by dessy
Bridesmaids Dresses via Dessy

While thinking about my ideas for bridesmaids dresses, I needed to define the look I want for the wedding. Since May, my ideas have changed pretty consistently and my newest obsession is garden meets beach themed décor, otherwise known as Al Fresco on the beach. Who knew it had such a fancy name? Anyways, here’s some of my recent inspiration! Accent colors to the green are still being determined so hopefully I’ll nail that down soon…and by soon I mean before June!!

al fresco wedding reception
Matt Edge Weddings via SMP
Greenery Escort Card Table -Designs by Ahn
Greenery Escort Card Table –Designs by Ahn
Hanging Greenery - Erin Jean Photography
Erin Jean Photography | See more Greenery Wedding Inspiration here.

Overall, it may seem like I haven’t achieved much when it comes to the wedding planning, but I’m getting there. Slow and steady wins the race, right?! Tune in next month to hear all about my amazing night out with my ladies!!!

 party

Sneak peek into next month!!! I’ll fill you in on who was shaken what their momma gave them and why they are wearing slippers!!