Wedding Week

Wedding week is here! And as much as I had hoped to blog regularly this week, I doubt that is going to happen. The much easier option is to fill Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with quick snapshots of all the excitement.

Want to follow along with the fun {and love and stuff...}? Check out these two hashtags on social media all weekend! #marryingmcafee and #themcafees430, and of course my Insta/Snapchat/Twitter handle @piperellice will give you an up close and personal picture into everything from the pre-wedding pedicures, to the bridesmaid sleepover Friday night!

For now, it's au revoir my little blog! After our wedding Saturday evening, we'll be hopping on a boat on Sunday for an eight day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean! I'll be back May 9 ready to recap all the excitement.

Lots of love from the very soon to be, Mrs. McAfee! 

Tea Towel Winner!

Congratulations to the winner of my tea towel giveaway, Heather! Heather is a long-time family friend, and loves the Auburn towel my bridesmaid Michelle got! Thanks to everyone who entered!


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Wedding Wednesday: Gift Giving + Tea Towel Giveaway!

Throughout the wedding season, we've received so many beautiful, thoughtful gifts at showers, in the mail, and even surprises at work! It's so exciting, but one of my favorite parts of this experience has been showering all of my hostesses with the mostesses little gifts in thanks for all they've done for me. Gift giving is definitely my number one love language: I love the hunt of finding the perfect gift for someone, and then watching them open it and hopefully love it as much as I had hoped!

For all of my pre-wedding events, I tried to give the hostesses a little something meaningful so that they can remember just as sweetly as I do! For my first shower, I gave Kim a teacup and some tea from Charleston because we share a love of that beautiful place. I gave her girls, my junior bridesmaids, matching blingy picture frames for their bedrooms so that they can put a picture from either the shower or the wedding in it to remember our fun times together!

For the I Do BBQ just last week, I gave our hostess some yummy local BBQ sauces in a few different flavors to try. I love to shop locally when I can, and Braswell's is a great stop for unique finds for any occasion. You can check out my bachelorette details post to see the super cute monogrammed sand spikes that I gave to all the guests here.

I think my favorite hostess gift was the Catstudio geography collection dish towel that I gave my bridesmaids for hosting my Statesboro shower. I picked out a state or town that was meaningful to each girl or to our relationship as there are tons of options of cities, states, teams, and more! I want a Georgia and a South Carolina towel for our kitchen, since Christopher and I are from these states.

One of my bridesmaids with her Georgia towel!

As a thanks to all my readers for following along during this exciting time in my life, I wanted to give away a special tea towel just for you! All you have to do is follow the steps in the giveaway below to enter for a chance to win your choice of a Catstudio dish towel. And thanks as always for visiting my little blog!

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Prom 2k16

I love prom season. Even before I was able to go, I remember buying the special prom dress magazines and picking out my favorite ones. I now have the pleasure of driving by two dress shops on my way to work every morning, and I imagine which ones I'd pick for prom now as they sparkle in the windows.

On Saturday, I went to Georgia Southern's Sweetheart Circle to take pictures of my best friend's little sister, who is now a lot like my own little sister, too! Her date was a little late, as he had to win a baseball game early Saturday afternoon, so it gave us an opportunity to get some great shots of her amazing dress/romper. He joined her in Savannah for dinner a little later in the evening, and they looked great together!

Prom dresses are so very different from when I was in high school. A lot more bling, and more 'pieces' than my solid dresses. I love seeing what everyone picks out to show off their personality!

My sweet Statesboro family

Isn't she a beauty?

See Summer Better with Warby Parker

#seesummerbetter

Warby Parker is back with a brand new collection for Summer 2016! Totally retro with new hues and updated silhouettes, these looks are great for days by the pool, trips to the lemonade stand, and family vacations with styles for men and women.

The iridescent frame is super popular this year, and I love the expanded offerings in the Warby Parker summer collection. Clear frames go with everything for guys and girls alike.

 But the opaque pink ones are of course my favorite, per the usual. The Roland {first, below} also comes in a pink Rose Guava color. The Tilley {last, below} comes in a tortoise shell too, but the pinkish color is called Grapefruit Soda--how cute! Plus, the hint of cateye adds such easy elegance to this ladies look!

The Hattie sunglasses {middle, below} are also very intriguing to me. It almost looks like wood grain in the premium cellulose acetate which provides such interesting texture to the frames! Something to consider when picking out your summer sunnies is both UV protection and scratch resistance for those days in the sand. Warby Parker provides both, in addition to a polarized option for certain styles.

Check out the entire Warby Parker summer collection, here. And don't forget about their wide variety of glasses, too!

Roland

Hattie

Tilley

I Do BBQ

On Saturday, my new family hosted our final wedding shower, an "I Do BBQ!" It was so sweet, and the weather was absolutely perfect: sunny and {almost} 75 degrees.

The invitations really set the tone for the event, and the theme was carried out through the decorations like the red and white checkered table cloths, mason jars with daisies, and the delicious BBQ. The event was catered by Dublin's coolest food truck, Holy Smokes BBQ. Their pulled pork and chicken quarters were amazing! So tender and full of amazing flavor. And their tangy sauce was a South Carolina girl's dream.

The shower was a great opportunity to meet some of Christopher's family that I hadn't met before the wedding. It was also so fun to open our gifts together...we even made him read all the cards aloud! Our kitchen is coming along nicely, and we officially have all of the place settings for our day china.

Aren't these invites the cutest? Again, Vistaprint!
You can check out my other Vistaprint posts here and here.

Christopher's brother and girlfriend

Me & my flower girl!

The soon-to-be McAfees!

Outfit details: Ruffle top | White Jeans | Wedges, Payless 2015

Christopher and his brother actually made the corn hole boards themselves! They were so proud of them being regulation size...I thought they looked great! I think we're going to stain them a dark brown color, and put a big monogram on them for the wedding. 

Seventeen days from today, I'll be getting ready to be married! Don't forget to follow along with us on social media using our wedding hashtags #marryingmcafee and #themcafees430.

Bachelorette Decoration Details

I wanted to share a few of the little crafty details from my bachelorette last weekend! Months ago, after we decided on a beach destination, Kirstie my Maid of Honor, spotted these white drink sand spikes at a Walker Boutique close-out sale. They were blank, and her sister has a vinyl cutter, so we decided to make  monogrammed sand spikes for all the girls as my thank you gift to them! I glittered little wine bottles with Mod Podge, and included striped paper straws. 

Aren't they just precious in my "M" galvanized bucket? We did three different beachy colors for the monograms: pink, teal, and yellow. I think they turned out so cute! 

The girls got my fabulous bachelorette sash from JG Creations by Jenna Green on Esty. Check her shop out here!

Kirstie also did the vinyl for our tank top cover ups. All the girls got pink tanks with white monograms in the top corner, while I wore a white one with my new monogram in a fabulous gold glitter. I'm obsessed with it! 

Kirstie made koozies for everyone too, using her vinyl cutter. While it takes a little more time, I've been in awe of how cost effective it makes all these items! On one side of the koozie it says "Piper's Bachelorette" and on the other it says "Where my beaches at?"

Niki, my matron of honor and soon to be sister-in-law, found these cute decorations at TJ Maxx! I love getting unique paper products and party supplies from the Teej.  

On Saturday night, everyone picked a "nautical name tag" to wear out! I loved how "punny" they were. This was another cool cutter project! I'm so thankful to have such creative friends that are so willing to work hard to make this the best time of my life. I can't believe that trip is already a week behind us, and I've got three weeks left until the wedding. Time flies when you're having fun!

Bachelorette Day Two

Bachelorette day two consisted of plenty of beaching, shopping, and spending time together. Kirstie, my maid of honor, made everyone the cutest monogrammed tanks to use as cover ups, and we got some really cute group pictures on the beach.

Saturday night consisted of another pink party, with the beautiful ladies all in pink dresses, while I wore a cream/gold Mudpie dress. We went to dinner at The Crab Trap on Fernandina, and it was so delicious. We were all really tired from all the fun on Friday night, and since many girls had to leave early Sunday morning, we decided to just head home after our late dinner.

That's really my favorite thing about this group of girls: easy-going, and everyone just wants to hang out and talk! Sunday morning came way too soon, but we packed up, grabbed some donuts, and headed home. Last weekend was exactly what I needed. It was the perfect mix of fun and relaxation, and I feel like I can handle the next 22 days!

Bachelorette Day One

Last Thursday after work, I headed down south to Amelia Island with a few of my girlfriends for my bachelorette weekend. We met some other girls {and my mom!} at the beautiful house that was our home for three days late that evening. After getting settled in, and doing an emergency CVS run for more wine and popcorn, the fun began.

We were worried all week about the weather being questionable, but it ended up being great! Friday morning we got up and headed to the beach just across the street where we snacked and enjoyed my world famous PipeStars in the sand while waiting on the rest of the group to arrive.

The other girls all arrived around dinner, which was fiesta themed, and cooked by my awesome MOHs! After dinner, the girls threw me a lingerie party which was so fun. They made me put on every piece I opened, as I opened it, layering them on top of each other. Let me tell you, that stuff isn't as breathable as it looks!

After the shower, we took some photo booth pictures at the house before walking a block down to a bar we saw hosting karaoke on Friday night. At the bar, we encountered babies, grandpas, and another bachelorette group! It was a lot of fun. I of course sang Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" like always!

After they literally kicked us out {who closes at 11 p.m.?! at a beach?! with people buying drinks?!}, we went to downtown Fernandina Beach and wandered through The Frog {or turtle? I was really bad with my animals last weekend} and The Palace, the oldest saloon in Florida. Half of the group didn't make it quite that far, and headed home to sleep and rest up for Beach Day Two! 

Night One Outfit featuring The Disappearing Veil

Oh heyyyy

Bathing Beauty

Between bachelorette planning, and plotting the best honeymoon cruise there ever was, I've bought a ton of new bathing suits. I may have even gone a little overboard...get it? 

I just couldn't help myself! Target has a ton of new cuties this year, and many that I can mix and match. I also love a good one piece, and I've scooped up two--one from Target, and a Trina Turk from last summer that was an eBay NWT steal! 

At the end of last summer, I picked up a beautiful floral caftan cover-up from Talbots. I really loved it because it was much more dress than cover-up, and was wonderful to wear into beach side restaurants. They don't have anything similar this season, but Target does! 

Top Left | Top Right 
Bottom Left | Bottom Right 

Hot Pink Ruffle

Trina Turk, similar

I've been a long time lover of the one piece, especially ones that have a little extra oomph! Both of these have somewhat of a plunging neckline, but they do keep you securely protected which is important.

I really loved the hot pink ruffle bikini top, and multi color Triangl inspired suit. And I totally think the cheetah print top will work with some hot pink bottoms, even if Christopher finds that combination a little questionable! What do you think?

Check back in this week for a bachelorette weekend recap!

The Bachelorette Weekend Playlist

Click the image to listen to the complete playlist!

Everyone has that one friend who changes the radio station halfway through every song, skips through the Pandora freebies too quickly, and has stacks of CD's in Ziploc bags in every corner of her car. Oh, that's just me?

A road trip is not a road trip without a playlist. Or a mixed tape, or a burned CD. Whatever you prefer.

Bachelorette weekend is here! I'm loaded up with the gal pals, and headed to Florida. While I may not have burned a CD for this trip, I did come up with a list of the most bee-boppity fun singalong dance-party songs I could find that would appeal to all tastes {we are an eclectic bunch}. Also, please excuse my love for middle school dance music...