Adios Green Monster!

Those of you who have visited James' house may have noticed his incredibly bright green hall bathroom...and those of you who know me may know my general hatred for the hideous shade of green. It was so green it was almost a neon green. I honestly don't know what the prior homeowners were thinking when they picked out the paint color for the bathroom, especially considering all of the other rooms in the house are painted in neutral shades. Last weekend, my mom and I set out to tackle the green monster and I am so pleased with the results. We went from "seeing green" to a peaceful, tranquil blue. Here are a few before and after photos...

Before-- honestly, this picture doesn't even do it justice...it was MUCH greener than it appears here

After!

Navy + Green

So, there are officially 149 days 18 hours 15 minutes and 20 seconds left until the wedding....not that anyones counting or anything. As I have mentioned before, my wedding colors are navy and green. These are some inspiration boards I love and have used for ideas:

Mr & Mrs Davidson

A few weeks ago, we headed down to Ashburn, GA for my best friend, Rachel's wedding.  Rachel's dad, her husband, Brad, and his family are big hunters so the wedding was at a quail hunting plantation. All of the wedding party stayed in a beautiful lodge on the premises.  Here are a few pictures from the fun weekend.

The beautiful bride 

All of the bridesmaids were Delta Zetas-- from 3 different schools so Rachel had these cute turtle pins put on our bouquets.

The cakes were delicious!

They're hitched!

Whitney caught the bouquet...again

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Davidson! I am so happy for you two! 

LOVE this

Wedding Flowers

With just under six months till the wedding, one of the big items on my wedding to-do list is to find a florist. I have the names of a few contacts and I definitely have ideas of what I would like. My vision of the wedding flowers is to have crisp bouquets of white and green flowers. I love hydrangeas, peonies, and chrysanthemums. I would love to find a florist that would be able to incorporate some flowers from my dad's garden in my bouquet. My dad has quite the green thumb and each spring his hydrangea bushes grow the most beautiful light blue-ish/green-ish blossoms. I think it would be so neat to be able to incorporate some of the hydrangeas from my dad's garden into my bouquet. Here are a few pictures I plan to use for inspiration when sitting down with a florist to plan out the wedding flowers:

If anyone out there who reads this blog knows anything about me, you would know that I have a slight obsession love for anything monogrammed. When I stumbled upon this idea of having a monogrammed bouquet wrap, I definitely put it on my wedding wish list.

Stay posted-- I will be uploading pictures from my dear friend Rachel's wedding this past weekend in Ashburn, GA. James and I also plan to do some painting and DIY projects this weekend, so I should have an update on the closet remodel soon! We should have the walls painted, one section of shelving hung, and flooring in within the next few weeks! Woo-hoo for checking items off the to-do list!!

Tagged!

Jenny "tagged" me about a week ago asking me to answer the following questions.... So here it goes!

1. What's your most embarrassing moment?  My most embarassing moment was in 4th or 5th grade.  I was carrying my lunch tray to the table when I slipped and fell.  In my mind I remember it like a scene out of a movie-- very dramatic, milk and food flying everywhere, everyone pointing and laughing... in reality it probably wasn't all that bad... but I do remember turning BRIGHT red immediately.

2. How did you meet your husband/fiance?  The summer after my sophmore year and the summer after James' junior year at UGA, we were both in Athens for the month of May (me doing a Maymester and James just enjoying Athens before going off to become a camp counselor for the summer).  We met when one of my sorority sisters invited me over to hang out at the Sig Ep house.  James actually "stole" me away from one of his fraternity brothers who he claims was hitting on me.  We ended up talking for hours on the sig ep front porch and the rest is history! :)

3. What is one thing you would change about yourself, if you had the chance?  I wish I was more adventurous and "spur of the moment".  I try my best to take advantage of fun adventurous things, but I am such a planner that in my head I am always thinking through the logistics and planning everything out rather than just going with the flow.

4. What is your biggest pet peeve?  When people speed through school zones or ride my tailgate as I am kindly obeying the law and going 25 through a school zone.  Come on people! There are small children crossing the street!

5. What's your favorite word? My cousins from England always tease me for saying "like".  In fact they even counted how many times I said it in one conversation.  So, subconsciously, maybe thats my favorite word! ...atleast one I say alot!

6. What is your favorite place in the world? Be specific.  My favorite place in the world would have to be James's house. This is pretty conveinent considering the fact that I will be living there in about 6 months.  At the moment his house is a bit of a construction zone, but I think its my favorite because it is where James proposed and I am looking forward to making memories together there.

7. If you could re-name yourself, what name would you pick?  Growing up, I wasn't a huge fan of the name Amelia.  This might have to do with the fact that I got called "Amelia Bedelia" a lot in elementary school.  So, growing up I probably would have renamed myself "Amanda" or "Elizabeth"--something more common.  I really like my name now, and I think it is unique :)

Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married...

Last week James and I met with the wedding director at Perimeter Church and finally got a chance to see where our wedding ceremony will take place. Yes, some may think I am crazy for booking the chapel sight unseen, but we knew the chapel at Perimeter Church was being built specifically for weddings, we knew the colors and the general feel of the chapel, and it just felt right--so we booked the chapel back in June! They finished construction on the chapel last month, and last Tuesday James and I, along with our parents got to see the chapel for the first time.

Just as I imaged it would be, the chapel is perfect! It's absolutely beautiful and the designers of the chapel seriously thought through every single detail. There is a beautifully decorated bridal suite--all of the decor is shades of blues and browns (my favorite!) and is so peaceful! There is a special flower room, equipped with an industrial size sink and a large refrigerated area for the florist to keep the flowers fresh.

The actual chapel was breathtaking. It was so great to finally see where James and I will recite our vows-- I can really envision the ceremony now! The chapel has a center aisle, amazing stained glass windows and is finished with lots of dark wood details. The stained glass windows were my favorite part, with the sun streaming in through the colored glass I could really feel God's presence in the chapel. The stained glass windows tell the vision for Perimeter Church-- a Christian should have a good head (sound theology and biblical understanding), a good heart (a heart for worship and the lost world) and a good hand (serving others for the sake and mercy of justice). We feel so honored to be getting married in this beautiful place!

"We give thanks to you, O God,

we give thanks, for your Name is near;

men tell of your wonderful deeds."

Psalm 75:1

The outside of the chapel

The main stained glass window-- The Heart Window

The sitting area of the bridal suite

The view just outside the chapel--there is a beautiful lake with a gazebo. It will be great for photo ops!

Upholstered Headboard

Here are some pictures of the finished project of the upholstered headboard for the master bedroom. I am really happy with the way it turned out! Please forgive the quality of the pictures, my camera is broken right now, so these were taken on my blackberry.

Add a few more pillows (I love the way a made bed looks with a ton of comfy pillows) and our bedding and I think it will look great!

Wedding Website

For those of you who haven't visited it yet, check out our wedding website!

Fabric, Fabric Everywhere!

A couple of years ago, my Dad and I built a bed together.  As it started out the bed was a really simple, platform bed that we painted white.  Last year, I decided that I wanted to add a headboard to our "custom made" bed. I decided on the shape that I wanted the head board to be, and my Dad cut a piece of MDF board to size.  We then covered the headboard with lots of padding and then with fabric.  Over the last few years, I added a dresser and two side tables to my bedroom furniture, buying new hardware and knobs for the pieces and painting them the same color as the bed.  James and I have decided to keep this collection of furniture as our master bedroom furniture after we get married.

We decided to decorate the master bedroom in navy, whites and yellows.  Here are a few examples of rooms I have used for inspiration:

So, I set out this afternoon to Lewis & Sheron Fabrics and Forsyth Fabrics in search of a navy and white fabric to cover the headboard with.  It was a fun little field trip, but a little overwhelming also! There were so many different fabrics and patterns at both stores, here are some pictures:

After much deliberation and texting back and forth with James and my soon to be sister in law, Jenny, for her professional opinion (she majored in interior design), I decided on this navy and white fabric:

I think it will go really well with the bedding we have picked out--The Grand Embroidered Duvet from Pottery Barn (shown on the sham above).  Here is a picture of the entire duvet set:

James and I plan to get to work covering the headboard tonight, so I will post a picture of the finished headboard soon!

Brookhaven Bachelor Pad...for now

Back in December, James became a home owner!  He bought a great 3 bed room, 2 bath house in Brookhaven.  The house has so much potential and James has been working so hard to fix up the house before I move in.  Here are a few pictures of the house as it is currently:

I don't have a ton of pictures of the inside, but as you can see, he totally lucked out with a renovated kitchen.  Some of the items on our to do list are:

• Master Bath Remodel
• Paint Exterior
• New Roof/Gutters
• New Windows
• Paint Hall Bathroom
• Paint Third Bedroom
• Landscape
• Build a Shed in the Backyard

One of the big items on our list, is a Master Closet Remodel, which James is currently working on.  There was a narrow walk-in connected to the master originally, but James' clothes filled the entire thing. In anticipation of me moving in after the wedding, James knew he would have to make room for my ridiculously large wardrobe all of my things.  There was a random little office area adjacent to the current closet that James and his "House Remodeling Consultant" (aka my Dad) decided they could enclose to extend the current closet. Once complete, the master closet will be about 8 foot by 10 foot.  I am so excited for my our new closet!! I am so glad that James is handy and so far has been able to do all of the work himself! He has really impressed me with his DIY skills.  He even taught himself to be an electrician! When he told me he was going to just "teach himself" how to wire the closet I must admit that I was slightly concerned.  I think I asked him ten times if the power was turned off and when he didn't answer a phone call a few hours later I may or may not have driven over to his house to make sure he hadn't electrocuted himself.  Having help from my Dad has been great also.  My Dad has completely renovated the home I grew up in, so he has a good bit of experience.  Here are a few pictures of the closet remodel:

In it's most recent state, the closet now has four sheetrocked walls, which is exciting! The next steps are to finish "mudding" the sheet rock, paint the walls, and then choose a closet organization system.  We want to make sure we utilize the space to it's fullest potential.  Here are is an example of a completely organized, immaculate closet (I'm sure ours will look EXACTLY like this all the time...ha!):

Stay tuned for my next posts as we continue to transform "the bachelor pad"- I will be sharing our color palettes, both for the house and the wedding!

Playing Dress Up

Last Saturday morning, four of my bridesmaids and I headed to Bella Bridesmaid, a boutique in Buckhead, in search of the perfect bridesmaid dress.  One of my bridesmaids put it well in saying that it was like playing "adult dress up".  Since I didn't really have a dress in mind, it was a really fun way to pick a dress that looked good on everyone!  As soon as we arrived at the boutique, we just started sorting through the racks, pulling anything that looked remotely cute, all the while laughing at some hideous interesting dresses they had in the store.  Although I was really tempted to put my 'maids in this dress so as not to up-stage the bride:

.....just kidding! We ended up picking a gorgeous dress that looks great on all of the girls:

The dress is the "Aster" dress by Simple Silhouettes.  My wedding colors are navy, with accents of apple green, so the bridesmaids will wear the navy shown above.  I just love the dress! I think that it is classic looking, while still being a little trendy-- very my style!

Thanks again to my sweet maids of honor, Whitney & Sara and my lovely soon to be sisters in law, Julia & Jenny for helping me pick out the dress! I just know that all of my 'maids are going to look stunning on the big day! <3

Introduction

Okay, so I am new to this whole blogging thing... where do I start?  My name is Amelia and the purpose of this blog is to document the start of something beautiful.  I am hoping blogging will be a fun way showcase the life of my fiance, James, and I as we begin our lives together.  James and I got engaged on May 31st and over the past few months we have been having a blast planning our dream wedding and preparing for our new life together.  I'd like to think of this blog as way to document our wedding planning, home renovation and home decorating projects.  When it comes to the house, we don't have an unlimited budget, so most of the work we are doing will be DIY and the when it comes to decorating, we plan to try our hand at our own artwork and try to do as much as we can ourselves! One of the main projects that we are currently working on is a closet expansion off the master bedroom of James' house. I will be sure to post more details and pictures on that soon!

Let the blogging begin!