City and Grace: October 2015

Saturday, October 24, 2015

VIDEO: My LA Bachelorette and Shower!

Hi All!

I put together a little video of one of the best weekends of my life - my LA Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower. I hope you enjoy a glimpse into another round of pre-wedding celebrations. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos.

A little party never hurt nobody....

xoxo

~ A ~

Sunday, October 18, 2015

My Santa Barbara Bachelorette

I love bachelorette parties. I love the idea of whole weekend devoted to eating good food, dressing up, going out and all in the company of close girlfriends. I've attended quite a few amazing Bachelorette weekends. For mine, however, I wanted it to be shorter and more cost effective so that more [mom] friends would be able to participate.

I knew that it would be in the SoCal area and had pitched a few ideas to my MOHs Sarah and Loee. I had no idea that what they planned would match my hopes so perfectly.

We started off the day at Loee's house, with mimosas and donuts. Um. My life.

#partylife4jeffswife

Then Surprise! Our very own party bus arrived to take us off to...I knew not where.

After more mimosas and singing, we played a few rounds of Who Knows Who Best and guess who gave the panties. I'd say I won both games :)

After about 2 hours (which flew by thanks to Iggy Azalea, and a lot of bubbly) we arrived at mystery destination #1 Bridlewood Estate Winery in beautiful Santa Barbara.

We sipped our flights and shot photos. Bridlewood is a gorgeous and grand vineyard and I would definitely recommend it for larger parties.

After a little while, we retired to the generous back lawn for a home made picnic care wine, raspberries and Madelines for days...

After lunch and a few tumbles in the grass we made our way to winery #2 Buttonwood Winery. Buttonwood is a quaint rustic farm with fresh fruit right across the road.

We grabbed our second flight round and made our way with a few purchased bottles to the picnic tables. We shared stories just sat for a while recalling all of our engagements (I was the only unmarried one in the bunch).

After deciding that we were just too stuffed for a formal dinner near by, we opted to get back on the 1 and watch the sunset over the water.

We grabbed In-n-Out in Ojai (for the win) and danced our way back to the city of lights ;)

Instead of going out (who could dance after a PCH fest that fun?) a few of us tucked in with 10 Things I Hate About You.

It was one of the best days of my life....

xoxo

~ A ~

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

My Roaring 20's LA Shower

There was definitely an array of pre-wedding celebrations this past spring. One of my favorites was a Gatsby themed shower thrown by my two maids of honor. I have always dreamt of a Roaring 20s themed wedding. This was the best way I could have had my wish. What is better than sunshine, sangria and excessive jewelry? Nothing.

The Shower was a surprise and held in my dear friend Bronwen's beautiful back yard.

The decorations were full of feathers, flowers and gems. Bottles of Pellegrino and photos of Jeff and I ran down the long banquet tables.

The ladies all sipped on lemonade and iced tea and gabbed about love and marriage in the hot April sun. It was enchanting to be sure.

We had the most delicious spread of summer fruits, veggies, tea sandwiches and salads. How amazing are those gilded paper plates?

We spent the early hour snapping our dashing ensembles (thanks Mom for picking my dress - it worked perfect!)

We were working those angles?

Taking ourselves very seriously...

After our late lunch we played romantic movie themed games starring some incredibly photoshopped posters of Jeff and I. We laughed over our cocktails and guessed at famous movie quotes about love. And then it was on to opening gifts!